Location
MOT 2012 will take place at the University of Toronto, in the Claude T. Bissell Building of the Faculty of Information, located at 140 St. George Street (map). This is the northern tower of Robarts Library, and is a few minutes' walk south of Bloor Street, on the west side.
The reception on Friday evening is in the Linguistics Department, on the fourth floor of the Sidney Smith Building, located at 100 St. George Street (map). This is a short walk south of the Bissell building, on the same side of the street. Unfortunately, the north wing of the building is locked on Friday evenings and weekends, so we will travel to the department as a group. If you need to get to the department and are locked out, you can try calling the lounge phone at (416) 978-6916 to see if someone can let you in.
Getting to Toronto
Toronto has two international airports:
- Pearson International Airport (YYZ) is on the western edge of the city. A taxi from Pearson to campus costs approximately $50 and takes around 45 minutes, depending on traffic. The public transit fare is $3 and the trip takes approximately 1 hour. Follow signs for "Public transportation" and board the 192 Airport Rocket express bus, which departs approximately every 10 minutes until midnight and less frequently until 2:00am. This bus will take you non-stop to Kipling subway station, where you can make a free transfer onto the subway system.
- Toronto City Center Airport (YTZ) (the "Island airport") is located close to downtown on the Toronto Islands and is a short taxi or transit ride from campus. A short ferry ride will take you to the mainland, where you can take a free shuttle to Union Station. Porter Airlines flies to the Island airport from Boston, Chicago Midway, Montreal, Newark, and other cities; Air Canada flies to the Island airport from Montreal.
VIA rail operates several trains a day to Toronto from Montreal, Ottawa, Windsor, and London Ontario. Journey times from Montreal or Ottawa are approximately 5 hours. Amtrak's Maple Leaf train runs daily from New York to Toronto via Albany and Buffalo, but the trip takes over 12 hours.
Getting to campus
The University of Toronto campus is located in downtown Toronto, close to most major hotels and attractions. Parking on campus is not plentiful, but the campus is well-served by frequent public transit:
- Subway stations: Spadina, St. George, Museum, and Queen's Park stations all border the campus; St. George Station is the closest to the location of MOT and to the Linguistics Department. Subway trains run every 2 to 5 minutes from approximately 6:00am to 1:30am (but from 9:00am on Sunday). After the subway shuts down, night bus routes run along most major streets, anywhere from every five minutes to every half hour.
- Surface routes: The 510 Spadina streetcar provides an extremely frequent service (approximately every 2 minutes) along Spadina Avenue on the west edge of campus. It can be boarded inside the Spadina subway station. The 506 Carlton streetcar runs approximately every 5 minutes along College Street on the south edge of campus. The 94 Wellesley bus runs approximately every 10 minutes along Harbord Street and Hoskin Avenue through the centre of campus.
- Fares: Transit fare is $3 (cash only, exact change) or $2.60 if you buy transit tokens in bulk (sets of 3 or 7) at a subway station (cash only, change is given). A fare is valid for one journey of any distance, and you may transfer between subways, streetcars, and buses for free as many times as necessary to reach your destination (make sure to take a paper transfer when you pay your fare). Day passes for unlimited travel can be purchased for $10.50 at a subway station. On Saturday and Sunday, two adults together can share a single day pass; if, on these days, two adults are making a return trip together (=4 fares), it is cheaper to buy a day pass than to pay the cash fare.