What's your work commute during PanAm? (TTC/MiWay/HSR/GOtrains for free!)

[TOareaFan]

If Brampton isn't adding any extra service, there are no extra costs. With the push for people to take transit rather than drive, I wouldn't be surprised if what little (if any) revenue is lost by people already taking transit not having to pay because they have a game ticket for later in the day, is replaced by extra revenue from those not driving.

Either way, the numbers must be quite small in the bigger picture of things.

So possibly no actual cost for Brampton. And I wouldn't be surprised if they are getting a subsidy from the games for each person who does use their Pan Am tickets. I wouldn't be surprised if they actually profit from this.

I have asked BT/ML/TO2015 if someone other than Brampton is carrying the cost of free transit....after giving them some time to reply...i am taking their silence as an indication the answer is that there is no transfer/subsidy to cover whatever cost there is.

re: the bolded part, what additional revenue generating passenger load should BT expect to offset the lost revenue they will see?

 

[nfitz]

I have asked BT/ML/TO2015 if someone other than Brampton is carrying the cost of free transit....after giving them some time to reply...i am taking their silence as an indication the answer is that there is no transfer/subsidy to cover whatever cost there is.

LOL. I doubt that would be effective. If they were, the last thing they want to do is to discuss.

Perhaps someone who cares should simply pull out the 2015 Brampton Transit budget documents and see if there is a line item for this.

re: the bolded part, what additional revenue generating passenger load should BT expect to offset the lost revenue they will see?

There's been a massive campaign to encourage people to use transit instead of driving to work during the games. Presumably there are some who will be taking Brampton Transit (or whatever they call it ... BiWay?) to GO for their usual car trips to Union.

Has there been a significantly large uptake of Pan Am tickets that creates such concern? Should BiWay be looking for funding from Veterans Affairs Canada to cover the costs of transit for veterans on Remembrance Day?

 

[TOareaFan]

LOL. I doubt that would be effective.

If we are agreeing there is no subsidy, I am not sure why you would have suggested "And I wouldn't be surprised if they are getting a subsidy from the games for each person who does use their Pan Am tickets."

There's been a massive campaign to encourage people to use transit instead of driving to work during the games. Presumably there are some who will be taking Brampton Transit (or whatever they call it ... BiWay?) to GO for their usual car trips to Union.

Perhaps this conversation has run its course....when an active transit proponent takes to pretending he does not know what Brampton Transit is called to get cheap effect laugh out of "Bi-Way" the value of the discussion is rapidly diminishing. I strongly doubt, however, that people who do not usually take transit at all will look at the Pan Am games and say "not only will I try that GO thing out....I will take a bus or two to get to the train"....if there is a transit pick up it is far more likely to be people driving to GO stations instead of driving to downtown (or Union as you state).

Has there been a significantly large uptake of Pan Am tickets that creates such concern? Should BiWay be looking for funding from Veterans Affairs Canada to cover the costs of transit for veterans on Remembrance Day?

We started this with my comment that Brampton taxpayers providing a transit subsidy to an event we are neither involved in nor would derive any short or long term benefit from would upset me as a Brampton taxpayer. The level of subsidy is a bit irrelevant to me and, therefore, so is the uptake in tickets. As for Veterans day....if you can't see the difference in a national event, an event that in a very large way honours men and women who played a significant role in defining our country and our way of life and a sporting event that is taking place elsewhere in other cities. In short, Brampton is very much involved in honouring our veterans.....we are not involved in the Pan Am games (whether by choice or by exclusion) and I don't think it is appropriate for us to be giving a transit subsidy to it... you clearly disagreee, fine, and you are no more going to convince me than I am you...so lets move on.

 

[nfitz]

If we are agreeing there is no subsidy,...

I don't think there's been any agreement there is no subsidy.

Perhaps this conversation has run its course....when an active transit proponent takes to pretending he does not know what Brampton Transit is called to get cheap effect laugh out of "Bi-Way" the value of the discussion is rapidly diminishing.

Why would I know what Brampton Transit is called. The only Brampton buses I ever see (on Hurontario in Mississauga and near York U) say ZUM on them. I'm not sure why BiWay would be amusing ... sounds like a great way to brand services in Peel. It's certainly not as silly as ZUM! I have no idea what they brand the buses in the other nether regions like Pickering, Orangeville, or Milton either.

I strongly doubt, however, that people who do not usually take transit at all will look at the Pan Am games and say "not only will I try that GO thing out....I will take a bus or two to get to the train"....if there is a transit pick up it is far more likely to be people driving to GO stations instead of driving to downtown (or Union as you state).

And for the same reasons, it's unlikely that there is going to be many in Brampton taking transit with game tickets. I doubt there'd even be any noticeable change in revenue.

We started this with my comment that Brampton taxpayers providing a transit subsidy to an event we are neither involved in nor would derive any short or long term benefit from would upset me as a Brampton taxpayer. The level of subsidy is a bit irrelevant to me and, therefore, so is the uptake in tickets. As for Veterans day....if you can't see the difference in a national event, an event that in a very large way honours men and women who played a significant role in defining our country and our way of life and a sporting event that is taking place elsewhere in other cities. In short, Brampton is very much involved in honouring our veterans.....we are not involved in the Pan Am games (whether by choice or by exclusion) and I don't think it is appropriate for us to be giving a transit subsidy to it... you clearly disagreee, fine, and you are no more going to convince me than I am you...so lets move on.

If you want to move on, simply don't reply. If you want to whine about a cost that is likely so low (and possibly even a net gain) that the request to them about how much it is costing, could cost more than the cost itself ... then please reply.

 

[doady]

nfitz, do you realize there used to be a chain of discount clothing stores called BiWay? I don't think MiWay is a good name to begin with and BiWay is even worse.

Anyways, all this complaining about Brampton providing free transit service for Brampton residents who are going to the Pan Am Games seems like such a waste of time and energy. Just complaining for the sake of complaining.

The whole idea that there should be no transit subsidies is just dumb to begin with. Brampton Transit would have to more than double the fares and cut service severely to make up the subsequent loss of ridership to achieve the 100% cost recovery rate. And that's just operating costs, there's the capital costs too. And Brampton would probably have stop subsidizing motorists as well and start implementing tolls on all their streets just to be fair. But at that point Brampton might as well not exist. I think this is a pointless discussion.

 

[TOareaFan]

The whole idea that there should be no transit subsidies is just dumb to begin with. Brampton Transit would have to more than double the fares and cut service severely to make up the subsequent loss of ridership to achieve the 100% cost recovery rate. And that's just operating costs, there's the capital costs too. And Brampton would probably have stop subsidizing motorists as well and start implementing tolls on all their streets just to be fair. But at that point Brampton might as well not exist. I think this is a pointless discussion.

and no one in this discussion brought it up until you just did. I just said that Brampton Transit should not be offering free rides to events in other cities (or free transit within their normal service area just because someone has a ticket to an event in another city later in the day)....I've stated my case/point of view and have moved on but if people misunderstand or misstate my view, I will pop back in and correct/clarify.

 

[nfitz]

nfitz, do you realize there used to be a chain of discount clothing stores called BiWay?

Now you say that, it rings a bell. Used to be one in the Frontenac Mall in Kingston in the late 1970s ... maybe into the early 1980s ... though perhaps I haven't been in the Frontenac Mall since then. Can't say I've seen one since in 30 years or so ...

Still seems to be a great name to me, now that we've gone MiWay. Makes a lot more sense than ZUM - which has me scratching my head; have you been to Churchill Falls; it's like walking into a whole town designed by the Dharma Initiative.

It's not like you are going to call it BT ... I really don't know what people in Brampton call the system.

 

[TOareaFan]

Now you say that, it rings a bell. Used to be one in the Frontenac Mall in Kingston in the late 1970s ... maybe into the early 1980s ... though perhaps I haven't been in the Frontenac Mall since then. Can't say I've seen one since in 30 years or so ...

Still seems to be a great name to me, now that we've gone MiWay. Makes a lot more sense than ZUM - which has me scratching my head; have you been to Churchill Falls; it's like walking into a whole town designed by the Dharma Initiative.

It's not like you are going to call it BT ... I really don't know what people in Brampton call the system.

People generally refer to it as Brampton Transit or, occasionally, "the bus"

 

[mdrejhon]

(depending on weather)Back on topic (for me, at least)

Interesting side topics about transit company names aside, I got a SoBi bikeshare membership ($15/mo for unlimited rentals up to 60min per day) to try an experimental bike+GO commute about once a week.

The lock-and-forget nature of SoBi makes it attractive for 1-way bike commutes, like weather or late working hours, or staying in Toronto overnight without worrying about the bike. (SoBi bikes don't need a dock unlike BIXI and can be docked to any pole, like a stop sign or parking meter, and the bike's own GPS sends its parked location to show on a map app of available bikes...) SoBi covers an area much bigger than Toronto Bike Share (formerly BIXI), despite having a similiar number of bikes, and the dock-anywhere means bike distribution is more flexible.

What made me decide to try this out is the temporary nonstop GOtrain (Toronto-Hamilton with no stops) that runs every weeknight evening during PanAm, and West Harbour is within a bike's ride distance.

My amended PanAm commute, when I'm not attending anything, will now be:

Morning:
Either bus or SoBi (depending on weather and nearby bikes) to GO station
GO train to Toronto

Evening:
Nonstop 5:50pm express PanAm GO train from Toronto to Hamilton West Harbor
Either bus or SoBi (depending on weather and nearby bikes) home.

 

[mdrejhon]

A bit of a delay but finally heard back from GO Transit (original message referred the TTC tweet), however, they re-confirmed:
______________________________________________________________

Dear Mr. Rejhon,

Thank you for your email regarding travel on the GO system during the Pan Am games.

During the duration of the games, GO Transit (and all other integrated systems, including TTC) will accept an event ticket as fare for the printed day of the event. So yes, in short, bring your ticket, go to work, go to the game, and head home all using your event ticket for proof of payment.

As the TTC account said, "Pretty cool, right?".

----- | Customer Service Representative
GO Transit, A Division of Metrolinx