Hi,
I'm landing in Toronto at 5:30 p.m. on July 26 and hoping to get to the Ti-Cats game in Hamilton that night at 7 p.m. What's the fastest way to get to Hamilton? Bus? Taxi? Would there be much traffic on a Sat night? Thx!
Taxi or a car rental would be the fastest. Traffic should be OK at that time from the airport to Hamilton on a Saturday. No bus/transit combination would get you to the game on time.
A cab will cost you about $110 according to a quick online search I just did. Car rental rates vary depending on car type and how long you need the car for.
If the Tim Hortons Field isn’t ready by the 26th just take a taxi from the Air Port to the Rogers Centre or wherever the alternate stadium and game will be held? Seems like everything is still up in the air, will they be ready to play or not??
safest and cheapest way would be to rent a car and then you have a way back to the airport.
lots of luck better have the rental car ready before you arrive it will be a stretch to make it before 7pm start if you can afford a taxi it would be faster as you do not have to find a parking spot at tim horton's field if it is ready
Probably by boat. 
Traffic on the QEW always seems to be bad...especially between Oakville and Burlington.
I would suggest a taxi if you want to ge straight to the game. It eliminates the rent car counter, and more importantly the time to park once in Hamilton. It would be a bit pricey, though.
Traffic might be a bit slow but on a Saturday you might have a fighting chance to make it for kickoff if you go right out the door of the airport to a cab. (Waiting for checked baggage might make it less possible though)
A rental car is the next best option, you then have a place to leave any luggage too. Have it pre-booked if possible.
Well the fastest way would be to get off at Pearson and take the 407 via a car waiting for you at the airport. However without a transponder, the 407 is going to cost you quite a bit, and I'm not sure how it works with a rental car, so that might not be cool.
Realistically though, taking the QEW till you hit either Burlington St. or the Red Hill Valley Parkway and going down Burlington and then balsam, or getting off at King St on the Red Hill would be the routes I would take.
If you take a cab, the driver could use the HOV lanes on the QEW. This would speed things up enormously. :thup:
If you've already invested in flight and game tickets, I'd recommend a cab and taking the 407. It won't be cheap, but you'll make kickoff if your flight lands on time and you don't have to wait for luggage. Taking time to rent a car will save a few dollars (not many if you factor car rental, gas, insurance if required, parking) delay you on both ends (renting and then parking).
If you make it and by chance need to get back towards the airport I'd be happy to help a fellow CFL (and hopefully Ticats) fan out with a ride. I travel in from about 90 minutes away and go pretty much right past Pearson. Unfortunately I can't help you get in to the game as I'll already be in town tailgating when you land.
is there any way to change your flight to an earlier time?
I live nearish to the airport and I have no idea if there is a bus that goes that way. If there is, it wouldn't be direct and since it would be a weekend, its schedule would probably be horrible. Your best bet is by car - taxi or rental. Traffic shouldn't be too bad on a weekend. It takes over 2 hours to get to the stadium on a week night. On a weekend, if traffic is moving at the speed limit on either the 401-403-QEW or 427-QEW routes, it should take an hour to travel.
If you’ve never driven to a football game in Hamilton before, finding gameday parking will be problematic for you, especially if you’re arriving within an hour of kickoff. Even when you know the area, parking can be a pain if you aren’t early enough.
The major downside to using a cab is that you might have trouble arranging transportation back to Toronto after the game.
If I were you, I would plan to rent a car, but phone the Ticats ASAP and find out if it’s possible for you to pre-purchase a single game parking pass from them for that game and have it mailed to you in time for you to have it in hand when you arrive in Toronto. I don’t know what single game parking pass availability is right now, but if you mention your specific situation (trying to make it from the airport on a tight schedule), maybe they’ll try to find a way to help you out.
Taking the 407 toll route is probably much faster than the QEW, but it will cost you. When a vehicle without a transponder uses the 407, an additional fee per trip is charged and I think the toll rate per km is higher (they use cameras to identify the vehicle by license plate when you don’t have a transponder). They will bill the vehicle’s owner (the rental car company) who will then send you a bill. Depending on the fine print of your car rental agreement, you probably will be forced to accept an additional charge from the rental car company for the hassle they go through to collect the 407 toll from you.
If possible, go online to check the QEW traffic flow before you leave the airport, and if traffic is moving OK, take the QEW.
Government traffic volume map is here (be sure to select the “traffic flow” button toward the left side of the map):
In the car, I’d tune the radio to 680am for traffic info. They also have a traffic twitter feed:
https://twitter.com/680newstrafficAnd their own traffic website:
http://www.680news.com/traffic/I’d recommend approaching Hamilton via the Skyway (follow the highway signs for Niagara falls), and take either the Burlington Street or Red Hill Parkway exit. For someone unfamiliar with the area, I think going Skyway to Burlington St. to Gage Ave. to Barton St. is the most straightforward approach to the stadium area. Check out Google maps ahead of time to get the lay of the land and watch out in particular for one-way streets.
Hi Mark:
The fastest way to get to Hamilton from Toronto is to walk. Seriously!
I see that at least one person has offered you a ride back to the airport. If you're comfortable making an arrangement of that type, the cab to Hamilton from the airport becomes a more attractive option.
Pearson airport has ground transportation info here:
http://www.torontopearson.com/en/toandfrom/ground/#Why not just fly right into Hamilton? WestJet has daily trips to smaller Ontario cities like London, and to Hamilton, at least the last time I checked. I think Air Canada only really lands in Toronto and Ottawa in Ontario.
If you have the money then a cab, flat rate $90 each way.
No bus would get you to the stadium area and it would take forever.
You can get a car rental company that has the pre-booked car waiting for you so you don't have to line up at the counter. It's Saturday, you won't have any problems at all. Airport to the 401 then the 407 ($15 toll) to the QEW or stay on the 403 to the QEW a little longer but its Saturday. QEW to Bulington Street, continue to Gage, turn right on Barton and look for any of the parking lots in that area.
8) Mark, Mark, Mark, why put yourself through all this mental anguish and stress about getting to that game on the 26th.
Forget it !!!
There will be no game played at THF on July 26. I will guarantee you that fact !!! <!-- s:oops: -->:oops:<!-- s:oops: -->
In case you haven’t heard:
[url=http://forums.ticats.ca/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=90719&start=0]viewtopic.php?f=5&t=90719&start=0[/url]The City of Hamilton has confirmed in a release that Tim Hortons Field will not be ready for the first two scheduled Tiger-Cat home games.
8) Hope you took my advice this morning Mark7 !!
Don't like to say it.....but I told you so. Even guaranteed it !!! <!-- s:lol: -->:lol:<!-- s:lol: -->