The TTC has come up with a way to stop token hoarding in its tracks - by suspending token sales outright, immediately, and replacing them in the short-term with temporary adult tickets.

In a rare Sunday press release, the TTC made the announcement, quoting TTC Chair Adam Giambrone:

"TTC riders have been understandably frustrated by the current token restriction. By issuing temporary tickets, the TTC has found a way to allow customers to buy bulk fares in the short term. This announcement today alleviates customer frustrations, and also allows the TTC to ensure it doesn't lose, potentially, millions of dollars in much-needed revenue."

Photo: "Fuzzy Memory" by PJMixer, member of the blogTO Flickr pool.

What's happening in the GTA (and sometimes beyond):

This week's entry in what appears to be an ongoing investigative journalism feature in the Saturday Star examines Toronto's black market in human eggs. Unlike the States, Canada has banned the sale of such eggs, leaving would-be parents with fertility problems to rely on the limited supply provided by altruistic donors. Or Craigslist. There is, of course, a host of problems associated with the unregulated sale of of such a sensitive "product" (which can cost up to $10 000), but those desperate to conceive have few other options within the current system.

Yesterday saw the opening of the York University BRT, which uses the hydro corridor north of Finch to shuttle passengers between Dufferin and Keele streets away from traffic. Although it's estimated that the BRT, which also uses dedicated lanes on campus and a special exit ramp from Downsview station, will shave up to 14 minutes off the previous trip time, I'm pretty sure this'll only be true during the height of rush hour. Having had a chance to ride it yesterday, I have to say that at 3 p.m. it wasn't more than a couple of minutes faster than normal. Maybe it was my bus driver, who was plodding along at a painful pace.

The Cameron House, a staple of the Queen West arts scene, is up for sale. Owners Cindy Matthews, Paul Sannella and Anne-Marie Ferraro hope they can find a buyer sympathetic to the role the Cameron has played in helping local artists and musicians gain both a sense of community and exposure. As their listing reads, "the hippest neighbourhood in the city awaits your style and imagination." That sounds a lot like a condo ad, and I have my suspicions that that's exactly what might eventually replace the arts hub.

For the first time in a very long time, a story about architectural heritage looks like it might have a happy - and relatively swift - ending. Nearly a month ago, two WW2-era airplane hangars on what was once an active air force base in Downsview began to be demolished, but thanks to their prominent location, they got noticed by the right people.

Built by De Havilland of Canada in the final years of the war, the two massive airplane hangars were once located among farms, miles away from Toronto's city limits, but today they're near the intersection of Dufferin and Sheppard streets, just north of the 401 and west of the Allen Expressway, just across the street from the Downsview terminus of the Spadina subway line. They're hard to miss, and it's no surprise that they caught the attention of Paul Oberman, a property developer notable for his willingness to take on and restore heritage properties.

I don't watch a lot of Citytv programming but when I do I inevitably get nailed with a Cashman commercial. You know, the one with the dancing girls, club beats and aging Russell "Cashman" Oliver wanting to trade cash for my used gold and jewellery. His ads have been running for years and actually have garnered him a fair amount of publicity including an interview on CBC last year when DC Comics sued him for one that had a Superman theme.

His ads keep appearing which means they must be successful enough for him to keep paying his bills. When Terry O'Reilly, famed ad man on CBC Radio's the Age of Persuasion spoke at Marketing Week in Toronto last week I fugured he'd be the perfect person to ask about them. Keep reading for our Q&A in which we discuss these ads plus other salient Toronto advertising related topics like marketing the city, ad creep and the influx of illegal advertising.

Photo: "Hot Dog On Xpro" by Metrix X, member of the blogTO Flickr pool.

What's happening in the GTA (and sometimes beyond):

In their awful week, the TTC tried to ensure all blame for the Yonge Street subway shutdown was placed with Enbridge and their contractor, but now Enbridge is pushing back, saying the City of Toronto authorized the work. But the transit agency can't just focus there, they're also getting questions about why collectors let customers pay their fare without informing them they couldn't get on a train or get as far as they needed. Basically, the week just gets worse for the Red Rocket.

Councillor Joe Mihevc wants us to talk about issues, not just who's running for mayor next year, and is even having a public meeting next week to figure out which issues are on peoples' minds. He went so far as to set up a Setting the Agenda 2010 website so we can all discuss. Seems a laudable goal, but will people participate?

The American school of before-Christmas sales and discounts seems to be migrating north in the face of the sad worldwide economy. Look for Sears and Wal-Mart to start a big head-to-head price war: Sears is offering Boxing Day prices all weekend while Wal-Mart has a price reduction strategy that will see 18,000 prices drop in November. Small, independent retailers won't like this news, but none of the Canadian retailers will be happy if Canadians head to the U.S. for American Thanksgiving next week with such strong Canadian currency in hand to take advantage of the traditionally deep discounts.

An editorial cartoon by Michael De Adder on the cover of the November 18th issue of the Metro has got the head of the Toronto transit workers union all hot and bothered. According to Bob Kinnear, the cartoon, which depicts a streetcar operator picking the pocket of a pedestrian bystander, places the blame for the recently announced fare increase on front line TTC workers rather than the commission's management or insufficient government funding.

Kinnear is thus worried that it threatens the safety of his local 113 members, who already suffer increased instances of physical abuse in the wake of fare hike announcements. "It will provoke active animosity in some unbalanced passengers and lead to more assaults. We've been down this road too many times before to let this pass," he reasons.

But is it really that bad? And does it actually lay the blame for the fare increase on the TTC's streetcar operators and other highly visible staff?