GO Transit: Service thread (including extensions)

[Richard White]

once a train runs express for more than 40 or so miles from downtown Toronto, it should be VIA's operation, perhaps under contract to Ontario.

They tried that with Niagara and ended up finding that GO was the better service.

 

[lenaitch]

^By that logic, the White River RDC would be a provincially run train. With its own overheads such as supervision and ticketing? Presto Card, anyone?

That would release VIA from the remote service part of its mandate for this service, then it would be at the whim of the provincial government (who would also likely have to renegotiate access with CP. Hmmm, I wonder how someone reloads a Presto card at a flagstop with no Internet.

[/QUOTE]

 

[micheal_can]

^By that logic, the White River RDC would be a provincially run train. With its own overheads such as supervision and ticketing? Presto Card, anyone?

There's a lot of economy in letting VIA run things outside the GTA. While we may feel that Ottawa is shirking its mandate, nothing good will come of creating a provincial bureaucracy to duplicate what is established federally.

If VIA does proceed with HFR, we may see the Province become more demanding for some sort of 403b type arrangement. But once a train runs express for more than 40 or so miles from downtown Toronto, it should be VIA's operation, perhaps under contract to Ontario.

- Paul

The RDC run you speak of is owned by the federal government. ONR is owned by the province, just like GO is. I would suggest we leave VIA out of the provincial ownership. They do things like that horribly -- aka what has happened to The Northlander.

So, Barrie, Kitchener and Hamilton all would no longer be serviced by the province, but by VIA? You mean like how they have been and then GO saw more need?

That would release VIA from the remote service part of its mandate for this service, then it would be at the whim of the provincial government (who would also likely have to renegotiate access with CP. Hmmm, I wonder how someone reloads a Presto card at a flagstop with no Internet.

[/QUOTE]

... Satellite internet? It is how I could be at camp and be able to reply to this too....

 

[lenaitch]

Cool. Several thousand for a ground station plus the cost of service.

 

[micheal_can]

Cool. Several thousand for a ground station plus the cost of service.

Ground station? Wow, you must work for the federal government with the way you think.

You install it on the train. Then someone can simply tap it, or they can log in and add money right there.

 

[Woodbridge_Heights]

Metrolinx plans to convert tens of thousands of GO station parking spots from free to paid

The shift is planned to begin within months and will be a pricey change for many of the roughly 65,000 GO customers who drive to the stations

www.theglobeandmail.com

While I support any initiative that reduces the demand for parking on the GO Network, having multiple times attempted to find options to take local transit to the GO and finding that local transit is wholly inadequate for this I feel that driving to GO stations is simply inevitable.

What I think a fair solution would be is for a moderate expansion of available parking, turning existing lots into parking garages etc. Then charge a parking fee but funnel some of that revenue into the local transit agencies so that they can improve their services.

(Personal note: I have recently moved to Oshawa, and despite living ~5km from the GO station local transit would take 30 mins compared to driving which is under 10 mins. My commute is already inconvenient enough as my office is not in the downtown core thus making the express trains a non option for me. I think I would be ok paying ~$3 to $5 to park at an expanded Oshawa garage knowing that some of those funds are going towards improving DRT services in the area)

 

[innsertnamehere]

The parking isn't disappearing, those who really need to drive still can. Just going to cost them a few bucks.

I've long said that GO should charge nominal amounts for parking (say, $2) then drop fares by at least a bit, whatever the revenue offset is, to soften the blow. Those who use other modes of getting to stations actually save money, and those who drive only pay a bit more.

Charging for it really is necessary. GO can't keep adding infinite parking spaces, especially as it starts to significantly grow it's services. It's simply impossible.

What should be done is fares drop a bit to offset costs, and extra revenue get spent on improving connections to stations. Better cycling connections, walking paths, etc. Maybe buy up houses to create more direct mid block connections, build more pedestrian bridges, etc.

Oshawa GO is unusually poorly positioned. It's going to be challenging to encourage other modes there due to its location, A pedestrian bridge across the 401 and high quality cycling facilities on Thornton Road could be a start though.

 

[Jonny5]

I am impressed they already have 8% of parking spots paying monthly under the reservation program. If they can get 8% "voluntarily," I'm sure a nudge can easily get that up to 20%.

 

[PinkLucy]

Metrolinx plans to convert tens of thousands of GO station parking spots from free to paid

The shift is planned to begin within months and will be a pricey change for many of the roughly 65,000 GO customers who drive to the stations

www.theglobeandmail.com

While I support any initiative that reduces the demand for parking on the GO Network, having multiple times attempted to find options to take local transit to the GO and finding that local transit is wholly inadequate for this I feel that driving to GO stations is simply inevitable.

What I think a fair solution would be is for a moderate expansion of available parking, turning existing lots into parking garages etc. Then charge a parking fee but funnel some of that revenue into the local transit agencies so that they can improve their services.

(Personal note: I have recently moved to Oshawa, and despite living ~5km from the GO station local transit would take 30 mins compared to driving which is under 10 mins. My commute is already inconvenient enough as my office is not in the downtown core thus making the express trains a non option for me. I think I would be ok paying ~$3 to $5 to park at an expanded Oshawa garage knowing that some of those funds are going towards improving DRT services in the area)

I also live less than 5 km from a GO station -- have you thought about walking or biking? No need to drive and leave a car sitting in a spot all day, plus you're getting some exercise. And you don't have the frustration of trying to find that non-existent spot after 7:30 am. It takes me just under 30 minutes to walk or about 10 minutes to bike.

 

[lenaitch]

Ground station? Wow, you must work for the federal government with the way you think.

You install it on the train. Then someone can simply tap it, or they can log in and add money right there.

You're right. I was thinking of the passenger side as opposed to the carrier's.
And thanks for the helpful judgement.

 

[Woodbridge_Heights]

I also live less than 5 km from a GO station -- have you thought about walking or biking? No need to drive and leave a car sitting in a spot all day, plus you're getting some exercise. And you don't have the frustration of trying to find that non-existent spot after 7:30 am. It takes me just under 30 minutes to walk or about 10 minutes to bike.

I will consider that for the summer. At the moment I am not a winter cyclist.

 

[micheal_can]

Metrolinx plans to convert tens of thousands of GO station parking spots from free to paid

The shift is planned to begin within months and will be a pricey change for many of the roughly 65,000 GO customers who drive to the stations

www.theglobeandmail.com

While I support any initiative that reduces the demand for parking on the GO Network, having multiple times attempted to find options to take local transit to the GO and finding that local transit is wholly inadequate for this I feel that driving to GO stations is simply inevitable.

What I think a fair solution would be is for a moderate expansion of available parking, turning existing lots into parking garages etc. Then charge a parking fee but funnel some of that revenue into the local transit agencies so that they can improve their services.

(Personal note: I have recently moved to Oshawa, and despite living ~5km from the GO station local transit would take 30 mins compared to driving which is under 10 mins. My commute is already inconvenient enough as my office is not in the downtown core thus making the express trains a non option for me. I think I would be ok paying ~$3 to $5 to park at an expanded Oshawa garage knowing that some of those funds are going towards improving DRT services in the area)

This really highlights what is really missing. "The Las Mile". You should be able to pay one fare, get on a local bus, get on a GO train, then get on another local bus. It shoudl be that seamless. It should be a reasonable price too.

You're right. I was thinking of the passenger side as opposed to the carrier's.
And thanks for the helpful judgement.

You're welcome. I know you were saying it to mock it, but those systems are possible. When you live in the Big City you tend to be ignorant of rural things.

 

[micheal_can]

Thinking more about it, what if GO charged 10% more than a day fare or a monthly pass of the local transit agency for all it's parking? So, lets say a round trip on local transit would cost $6, the day parking would be $6.60. Let's say a monthly pass is $100, a monthly parking pass would be $110. Would there be a massive drop in GO users, or would people finally leave the car at home?

 

[lenaitch]

You're welcome. I know you were saying it to mock it, but those systems are possible. When you live in the Big City you tend to be ignorant of rural things.

I know that ONR has been trying to figure out how to get WiFi on the Northland (they have it on most of their bus routes) but satellite connectivity, particularly two-way is really expensive.

 

[Northern Light]

Metrolinx plans to convert tens of thousands of GO station parking spots from free to paid

The shift is planned to begin within months and will be a pricey change for many of the roughly 65,000 GO customers who drive to the stations

www.theglobeandmail.com

While I support any initiative that reduces the demand for parking on the GO Network, having multiple times attempted to find options to take local transit to the GO and finding that local transit is wholly inadequate for this I feel that driving to GO stations is simply inevitable.

I think 'inevitable' is rather defeatist. There is no question whatsoever that suburban transit needs to improve in frequency, and in some cases by way of reducing journey time. DRT is doing this, albeit more slowly that I would like.

There is also no disputing that pedestrian and cycling conditions require improvement at most GO stations.

But if the above are resolved, I expect a substantial number of riders could find non-automotive means of getting to/from GO stations.

For those that remain, the option will be to pay a modest stipend for parking; hardly an unfair thing, as those using transit are paying fares between roughly $3-$6 daily to arrive at the GO station subject to discounts, passes etc.

What I think a fair solution would be is for a moderate expansion of available parking, turning existing lots into parking garages etc. Then charge a parking fee but funnel some of that revenue into the local transit agencies so that they can improve their services.

I can't agree to this one, unless the same offer is made to subsidize TTC, that would be rather expensive.

I think what can/should be done is for the province to ensure more affordable fares for those using 2 or more transit systems on a trip, no matter which 2 or more they may be.

(Personal note: I have recently moved to Oshawa, and despite living ~5km from the GO station local transit would take 30 mins compared to driving which is under 10 mins. My commute is already inconvenient enough as my office is not in the downtown core thus making the express trains a non option for me. I think I would be ok paying ~$3 to $5 to park at an expanded Oshawa garage knowing that some of those funds are going towards improving DRT services in the area)

Worth saying DRT has a decent level of new service hours proposed in 2020, but its far less useful than it should have been, as they are picking up a new route to Bomanville replacing the GO service which is eating up a good chunk of that money.