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Do GO Fare Zones Really Exist?

Swamp Thing said:
What changes due to Presto are you anticipating? Will "fare zones" go away to be replaced by per-station pricing?

(Apologies if there is a Presto thread I should be reading.)
Click to expand...

The short answer is that you will be charged on a more per-distance basis. The current system is setup for suburb-to-downtown travel and suburb-to-suburb travel often ends up costing you suburb-to-downtown-to-suburb prices.

The new system will fix those issues.
 
Swamp Thing said:
What changes due to Presto are you anticipating? Will "fare zones" go away to be replaced by per-station pricing?
Click to expand...
I don't think anything can be called absolutely finalized by now, but it appears likely that large zones will be replaced by true fare-by-distance.

EDIT: I should have read my own previous posting before answering. While the above seems true, so far as can be determined at this point, the other change that is almost certain is the demise of the monthly pass in favour of a system of increasing discounts the more you ride.

On one hand, this will mean that you will never have a ride with no incremental cost, but on the other hand, riders who take the occasional out-of-the-normal trip won't be penalized the way they are now. For example, if you are - as I am - a regular Ajax-North York commuter whose monthly pass covers routes 94/95/96, a decision to take a trip downtown on a holiday or weekend means that I am paying FULL fare for that trip downtown, despite already having a monthly pass that is very close to the cost of an Ajax-Union pass. The money I'm giving GO is for a different route and gets me nothing if I need to go to Union instead. With the new approach, the discounts I've earned through the month will - as far as I know - cover ALL trips I've taken regardless of location, and so that one odd trip to Union will get a discount.
 
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Sorry to resurrect a dead thread but it was the only one I could find that was about the GO fare zones.

I just noticed that Erindale GO is now referred to as being in zone 40, whereas it used to be in zone 12, like Clarkson. I wonder when and why this was changed. Cooksville is still in zone 11. I thought Cooksville and Port Credit were in the same fare zone, but it seems Port Credit is now in Zone 10 rather than 11. So why did Port Credit change from 11 to 10 and Erindale from 12 to 40?

CPTDB still shows Port Credit and Erindale in their previous zones whereas Wikipedia is updated with the change.
 
Coruscanti Cognoscente said:
Sorry to resurrect a dead thread but it was the only one I could find that was about the GO fare zones.

I just noticed that Erindale GO is now referred to as being in zone 40, whereas it used to be in zone 12, like Clarkson. I wonder when and why this was changed. Cooksville is still in zone 11. I thought Cooksville and Port Credit were in the same fare zone, but it seems Port Credit is now in Zone 10 rather than 11. So why did Port Credit change from 11 to 10 and Erindale from 12 to 40?

CPTDB still shows Port Credit and Erindale in their previous zones whereas Wikipedia is updated with the change.
Click to expand...
Busses operating Milton line services aren't going into Toronto directly anymore, they connect with Lakeshore West trains now.
 
littlewill1166 said:
Busses operating Milton line services aren't going into Toronto directly anymore, they connect with Lakeshore West trains now.
Click to expand...
I'm well aware. I do not see the connection to Erindale and Port Credit having their zones changed.
 
Coruscanti Cognoscente said:
I'm well aware having done it before and avoid it as much as possible.

Do you have evidence that the zones were changed when this diversion was implemented?
Click to expand...
According to GO's Twitter Feed, the diversion to Port Credit was already periodically happening in January 2019 when there was heavy traffic congestion.
https://twitter.com/x/status/1090064535518625793

According to the Metrolinx website, fares were adjusted in April 2019 to lower the fare for trips under 10 km to $3.7.

Your GO Transit fare change primer

Q&A about fare changes
www.metrolinx.com

According to the schedules for Milton and Lakeshore West, in January 2019, Port Credit is in zone 11, and Erindale is in zone 12.

According to the schedules for Milton and Lakeshore West, in September 2019, Port Credit is in zone 10, and Erindale is in zone 40.

According to the "fare_attributes.txt" file in the GTFS file for GO Transit, a trip without PRESTO from zone 12 to 11 is $4.40. Whereas a trip from zone 40 to zone 10 is $5.75.

Software Developers | Partner with Us | GO Transit

Metrolinx has resources available for developers to build their own mobile applications, using our transit-related information for GO Transit and UP Express.
www.gotransit.com

With PRESTO if you make a trip with a transfer, and both segments are charged the short-distance fare ($3.70), then the total fare gets reduced to $3.70 after transfer credits are applied.
If you use the above example as a proxy and apply it to a trip from zone 11 to zone 12, the fare would be $3.70 using Presto. Cooksville to Clarkson with a transfer is an example: https://www.gotransit.com/en/plan-y...0&distance=11197&durationKey=PT33M&time=11-00

A trip from Port Credit to Mimico is $3.70 using Presto. https://www.gotransit.com/en/plan-y...63&distance=9950&durationKey=PT15M&time=11-00

Had the fare zones not been adjusted, it would have been possible to travel from Erindale to Mimico all for $3.70 (a distance of 23 km).
 
Here's a GO Fare Zone map. It's from a recent fare integration business case that was mistakenly live for a bit.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1753160526257926212

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A look at different GO Fares by distance from Union.
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