ACL

MOL 2019: The 16th Meeting on the Mathematics of Language

President (2017-2019): Philippe de Groote
President-Elect: Frank Drewes
Local Organizer: Gerald Penn
MOL is a special interest group of the Association for Computational Linguistics

MoL 2019: Venue


MOL will take place on the downtown campus (also called the "St. George campus") of the University of Toronto.


Conference and Breaks

With the exception of lunches and the banquet dinner, all events will take place in room 1101 of the Sanford Fleming building, located at 10 King's College Rd., Toronto M5S 3G4. Room 1101 is on the first/ground floor on the north side of the building. As you face the front of the building, it is on the right-hand side.

Lunch

Lunch on both days will take place in room 202 of the Galbraith building, located at 35 St. George St., Toronto M5S 1A4. Galbraith is connected to Sanford Fleming. Room 202 is on the second floor on the west side of the building, near St. George St.

Reaching Toronto

Toronto has two airports: Pearson (YYZ) and Bishop (YTZ). Unless you are coming from the eastern half of the United States or Canada, you will have to use Pearson.

Taxis will accept foreign credit cards, but not foreign debit cards, although some drivers will agree to accept U.S. cash. Many private businesses downtown will also accept U.S. cash, although at a poor exchange rate. All Canadian banks downtown will purchase major foreign currencies and most Canadian ATMs will work with foreign debit and credit cards.

Pearson airport

At Pearson airport, Air Canada and its partner airlines use Terminal 1. All other airlines use Terminal 3 (there is no Terminal 2 right now).

Taxi: The most convenient way to reach downtown Toronto is by pre-arranged taxi. Call either Aerofleet or Airflight after you have retrieved your checked luggage and cleared Canadian customs. They will give you a car number and collect you at the curbside outside Door A (in either terminal) almost immediately. The cost for a trip to the University is a flat CAD 53 and the ride takes about 30 minutes in good traffic. The taxis that you can hail at the curbside are metred and on average cost about CAD 15 more to downtown. Do not accept rides from drivers walking around inside the terminal; they are operating illegally.

Train: Another way is to take the Union-Pearson (UP) Express train from Terminal 1. If you arrive at Terminal 3, there is a free Skytrain that connects the two terminals above the entrance to the car park. The UP Express costs CAD 12.35 one way. Alight at the final stop, Union Station. This takes about 30 minutes. From there, you can transfer to the subway or buses, either by negotiating a rather circuitous maze of passages inside Union Station, or by taking any exit and walking east on Front Street. That takes about 10 minutes.

Bus: The cheapest way (CAD 3.25) to transfer to downtown Toronto from Pearson is to use TTC Bus 900. Ride it to the end of the line, Kipling Station, and transfer to the green/number 2 subway line. This takes about 90 minutes. There are multiple bus lines that operate out of Pearson airport, so be sure to board a red-and-white TTC bus. Those go to Toronto. The closest subway station on line 2 to the University is St. George Station. You will have to ascend two levels to get to the street.

Note on departures from Pearson airport to the United States:  Pearson airport has a special arrangement with the United States, under which you must clear U.S. passport and customs control in Pearson airport before boarding your flight. Be sure to allow for extra time in planning your return to the airport, as the wait times can be lengthy.

Bishop airport

Bishop airport is located on a small island in Lake Ontario, from which downtown Toronto is accessible by pedestrian tunnel and ferry.

There is a free shuttle operated by Porter Airlines from the ferry terminal to the Fairmont Royal York Hotel, which is across the street from Union Station.

Reaching the Conference

By taxi

Taxis can easily reach the downtown campus of University of Toronto, but you must know how to ask. Don't say "university;" there are two downtown (the other is called Ryerson University) as well as a street called University Ave. You should say "U of T." Tell the driver to go to the College St. entrance at the corner of College St. and King's College Rd., on the south side of campus. Once you reach the campus, the driver won't know how to find the Sandford Fleming building and the street address labels are too confusing to be of any use. Instead, etch this photo into your memory, and proceed slowly up King's College Rd. until you see it. It is the third building on the left. If you reach the traffic circle, you went too far.

By public transit

Take the subway to Queen's Park station on the yellow/number 1 line. After ascending the stairs or escalator from the platform, exit through the turnstyles and turn right. Walk to the end of the hallway and turn right again, ascending the stairs to street level. Turn left and walk diagonally back towards College St. and continue (west) on College St. past a single traffic light and then to King's College Rd. Turn right again and proceed towards King's College circle. Sandford Fleming is the third building on the left, before you reach the circle.

Accessibility

University of Toronto is committed to providing a barrier-free facility for all guests to enjoy. We are in compliance with the regulations set forth by the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA).

Those with special accessibility needs are requested to contact Gerald Penn by email to confidentially discuss how the university can accommodate them no later than Friday, 5th July, 2019.