News   Jul 15, 2024
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GO Transit: Service thread (including extensions)

From Oliver Moore: The provincial budget (not likely to be passed before the election) has $3.00 fares for all Go Transit trips within Toronto and all trips under 10 km

https://twitter.com/moore_oliver/status/979088990040215552

Also this: "In addition, PRESTO card users at stations such as Port Credit, Malton, Pickering, Ajax and Markham will also see fare reductions when taking GO Transit back and forth to Union Station."
 
Counter peak service would be really good right about now. I need to be downtown for 6:3o p.m. But Etobicoke North won't do anything for me. Instead, I'll have to park at Wilson station and take the hour long Line 1 milk run. Google Maps says Wilson to King will take 30 minutes which is a filthy lie. I long for the days of frequent 2WAD and counter peak trains connecting with BRTs and LRTs whizzing through dedicated right of ways so I can get around without my car.

You could also park at Weston Station and take UP Express. Wilson Station to Downtown doesn't take an hour on the subway, though. Google Maps is pretty good predicting transit times, I find.
 
Wilson to King should take 30 minutes, but the TTC has royally screwed up it's signalling on the spadina line right now. In a bit of time they should figure things out and improve their travel times.
 
Wilson to King should take 30 minutes, but the TTC has royally screwed up it's signalling on the spadina line right now. In a bit of time they should figure things out and improve their travel times.

The issues with the Spadina Line are almost exclusively northbound. You'll get uneven headways southbound, but certainly not in the range of a half-hour delay.

Dan
Toronto, Ont.
 
From Oliver Moore: The provincial budget (not likely to be passed before the election) has $3.00 fares for all Go Transit trips within Toronto and all trips under 10 km

https://twitter.com/moore_oliver/status/979088990040215552

Damn, some GO/UPX trains and parking lots are gonna get TIGHT at the Toronto border. I'm thinking Milliken, Etobicoke North, Long Branch, Rouge Hill in particular. Local Torontonians saying 'f*ck it, I ain't taking the TTC' and residents at the edge of neighbouring cities saying 'f*ck it, I ain't taking MiWay/YRT/DRT plus the TTC' to get downtown.
 
Damn, some GO/UPX trains and parking lots are gonna get TIGHT at the Toronto border. I'm thinking Milliken, Etobicoke North, Long Branch, Rouge Hill in particular. Local Torontonians saying 'f*ck it, I ain't taking the TTC' and residents at the edge of neighbouring cities saying 'f*ck it, I ain't taking MiWay/YRT/DRT plus the TTC' to get downtown.

Does GO even have the capacity for this? Trains are packed up the ass with people during rush hours. Maybe off-peak fares being this low? I don't see this being feasible with a huge migration of TTC users to go transit in this short of a term.

Also, this could seriously screw up the TTC as funding will be severely limited.
 
Damn, some GO/UPX trains and parking lots are gonna get TIGHT at the Toronto border. I'm thinking Milliken, Etobicoke North, Long Branch, Rouge Hill in particular. Local Torontonians saying 'f*ck it, I ain't taking the TTC' and residents at the edge of neighbouring cities saying 'f*ck it, I ain't taking MiWay/YRT/DRT plus the TTC' to get downtown.
I think the latter point is less of an issue. People on the boarder with Toronto are already using those stations because it already is cheaper to do so. Rouge Hill even has a bus that brings in commuters from Pickering.
 
Does GO even have the capacity for this? Trains are packed up the ass with people during rush hours. Maybe off-peak fares being this low? I don't see this being feasible with a huge migration of TTC users to go transit in this short of a term.

Also, this could seriously screw up the TTC as funding will be severely limited.

I have a feeling that GO was just as surprised at the announcement as the rest of us.

I think removing most of the seats on the lower level (maybe even mid level) of the trains and change it to horizontal seating along the windows. Add a lot of handle bars, and capacity may be less of an issue. It definitely won’t solve the problem of only having 4 doors (2 on each side) on each car, but at least may allow for better passenger passenger movement and capacity.
 
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I think removing most of the seats on the lower level (maybe even mid level) of the trains and change it to horizontal seating along the windows. Add a lot of handle bars, and capacity may be less of an issue. It definitely won’t solve the problem of only having 4 doors (2 on each side) on each car, but at least may allow for better passenger passenger movement and capacity.

They really need to change the seating layout on the upper levels and put in overhead racks. No room for bags and it's extremely inefficient. Have the 1st level wall seating and SRO. The middle level should remain a group seating area, but include tables. The upper level should not be 2 people facing each other, more like airplane seating; it's more efficient and there's more legroom. It also prevents people from putting feet on seats.
 
My (albeit limited) experiences on the line state otherwise. I was delayed near 20 minutes southbound on Monday.

Yeah, I waited a little over 20 minutes at Downsview Park for a southbound train a few weeks ago, and it was standing room only when it arrived, completely full as of Wilson, left people waiting at subsequent stations.
 
You could also park at Weston Station and take UP Express.

Oh, I checked the UPX lot and it was full. Some of the reserved spots were annoyingly empty. The Green P and on street parking in the area were also all occupied.

Wilson Station to Downtown doesn't take an hour on the subway, though. Google Maps is pretty good predicting transit times, I find.

Fair enough. I exaggerated. Wilson to King on Tuesday afternoon took 40 minutes. However, the reverse trip that night was awful (just like when I was complaining last week): King to St. George was quick, but Dupont to Wilson was awful.
 
Also, this could seriously screw up the TTC as funding will be severely limited.

With the TTC OpEx being primarily funded through farebox recovery, I don't believe that it will find itself with more limited funding than it already deals with,a nd in the case of UPX, lower fares were offset by higher ridership, so there's likely to be a breaking even on GO revenue at these lower fares.

I also should state I am new to Toronto and don't feel that the divide between TTC (subway) and GO needs to be so stark. Most of the people I've spoken to who live in the city think of GO only as a purely suburban/interurban service that they used that one time after their friend got married, had a kid and moved to Oakville. They don't seem to think of it as a viable way to get around the city. I hope that with increased frequency and (lots) more infill stations, that mentality will change, and fast.
 

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