For today’s vlog, join me as I visit the Toronto Islands. The Toronto Island ferries have been in the news because 3 of the 5 ferries are down for repairs. I showed up at Jack Layton Ferry Terminal late morning on Monday. There were quite a few people waiting to board a Centre Island Ferry. They had unloaded but were not yet taking on new passengers. Meanwhile, a Ward’s Island Ferry came in. I boarded that one withing minutes of arriving at the terminal and off we went. It appeared to me that during the week, the current fleet can handle the job without much problem, but I suspect on a busy summer weekend, there will be unhappy customers.

My visit was by no means exhaustive. I walked from Ward’s Ferry Terminal to Centre Island Ferry Terminal, shooting video here and there along the way. I’d like to return for a second visit/video in the fall.

I’ve heard one of our City Councillors on the radio multiple times in the past few days, touting a bridge to Ward’s Island for pedestrians and bicycles and emergency vehicles. I think there will be increasing pressure for the City to do this as the port lands are developed. On Newstalk 1010 today, I heard Island residents are not taking the idea seriously. They ought to though, because a bridge to Toronto Islands would certainly result in lots more people visiting, and I can see that eventually becoming an existential problem for the Island community.

Do you think there should be a bridge to Toronto Islands? Should they invest in updating the ferry fleet instead? Would hovercraft work? Currently it costs over $9 for a return trip by ferry.

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