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GO Transit: Service thread (including extensions)

Woodbridge_Heights said:
If we want more compact and pedestrian friendly stations shouldn't we be building parking garages instead of giant seas of surface parking lots? A 6 level garage with 500 parking spots on each floor takes up 1/6'th the space of a 3000 spot parking lot.
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This. Ontario is really bad for surface lots, especially outside of Toronto. A garage at each station would be fine.
 
tmlittle said:
This. Ontario is really bad for surface lots, especially outside of Toronto. A garage at each station would be fine.
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Garage is expensive - see: https://seanmarshall.ca/2015/11/12/go-transit-and-the-high-cost-of-free-parking/

Also: https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/toronto/article-go-transit-calls-time-on-free-parking/

GO/Metrolinx knows it is expensive and unsustainable - but the speed at which they quickly denied and turned around tells you status quo rules.

AoD
 
Woodbridge_Heights said:
If we want more compact and pedestrian friendly stations shouldn't we be building parking garages instead of giant seas of surface parking lots? A 6 level garage with 500 parking spots on each floor takes up 1/6'th the space of a 3000 spot parking lot.
Click to expand...

...with bicycle parking & stores at ground level, offices on the second level, parking garage above them, and residential on top. Residential car parking would be underground.
 
micheal_can said:
Actually, the problem is local. Maybe this will force the local transit to rethink it's routes to better align with the trains. This could be the resurgence of local transit needed. Everyone may want to see doom and gloom, but think about it, most park because the local transit isn't good. Remember, those making decisions at the local level are elected by those who are currently parking.
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It truly is a funding issue but also a balance. Local transit has to service both passengers moving in and out of the municipality but also those moving within it.. Many of the GO stations out in the 905, I'm thinking the likes of Stouffville, Bloomington, Barrie, etc. serve both growing urban centres as well as rural outlying areas as well that will never reasonably be served by transit.
 
Woodbridge_Heights said:
If we want more compact and pedestrian friendly stations shouldn't we be building parking garages instead of giant seas of surface parking lots? A 6 level garage with 500 parking spots on each floor takes up 1/6'th the space of a 3000 spot parking lot.
Click to expand...
tmlittle said:
This. Ontario is really bad for surface lots, especially outside of Toronto. A garage at each station would be fine.
Click to expand...

You mean one of these?
www.google.ca

Google Maps

Find local businesses, view maps and get driving directions in Google Maps.
www.google.ca www.google.ca
 
Due to my physics background i decided to look into some acceleration slopes for different consists using data from Transee.ca
Here is what i found

6-Car MP40- had an acceleration slope of 1.1-1.15 m/s^2 on average. 0-100km/hr is roughly about 88 to 100 seconds
12 Car MP40 - acceleration slope of 0.45-0.55 m/s^2. 0-100 km/hr is roughly about 180-220 seconds
10 car MP40 - acceleration of 0.55-0.6 m/s^2 0-100 km/hr is roughly about 168-180 seconds.
6 Car F59PH - acceleration slope of 0.7-0.8 m/s^2. 0-100km/hr is about 125-144

12 Car Double Headed MP54AC. 1.1-1.35 m/s^2. 0-100km/hr of 74-100 seconds. Its insanely Fast.

Also some info, it looks like the acceration is never constant all the way through. it starts to steepen 0-30km/hr and after 125km/hr starts to bottom out for most configurations. I found that most 10 car trips liked to cruse at 110-120 km/hr. while 12 car trips cruised at 90-110 km/hr. 6 car trains tend to cruse at 120-130 as well as the MP54s. By cruse i mean they stop accelerating
 
Northern Light said:
Just to compare one 'similar' trip.

I looked up Kitchener GO to Union Station.

Distance vs Distance

Metra, Chicago Union to Fox Lake: 87km
GO: Toronto Union to KW 101km

Travel Time:
Metra: 1hr 37
GO: 1hr 54

Price:

Metra: 12.53 CAD
GO: 16.32 CAD (Presto Fare)

Price per KM:

Metra: 0.14
GO: 0.16

But....METRA charges for Parking at Fox Lake Station!! $1.50USD per day or $2CAD

Adjusted price with parking

Metra: 14.53CAD
GO 16.32CAD

Price per Km:

Metra: 0.167
GO:.0.144
Click to expand...
Kitchener doesn't have free parking, the cheapest parking spot is like 6$ a day.
 
Kitchener's lack of free parking is essentially Metrolinx's entire reason for wanting to construct the Breslau station.


There are actually quite a few GO stations that have no parking, and another few that have "limited" parking.

No Parking:
Union
Danforth
Bloor
Exhibition
Kennedy (technically there is paid TTC Parking here, but no formal parking for GO)
Kitchener
Hamilton Centre
Kipling

Stations that I would say have limited parking (i.e. small parking lots due to constrained land areas), more in line with a typical Metra station:
Mimico
Long Branch
Stouffville
Agincourt
Markham
Centennial (there is a parking garage here but it is fairly small, and essentially no surface parking)
West Harbour GO
NIagara Falls and St Catharines
Newmarket GO

While I agree that the big stations with thousands of spaces are the busiest stations and how most GO customers experience getting on the train, I would argue that smaller more pedestrian scale stations are far from unusual for GO.
 
innsertnamehere said:
Kitchener's lack of free parking is essentially Metrolinx's entire reason for wanting to construct the Breslau station.


There are actually quite a few GO stations that have no parking, and another few that have "limited" parking.

No Parking:
Union
Danforth
Bloor
Exhibition
Kennedy (technically there is paid TTC Parking here, but no formal parking for GO)
Kitchener
Hamilton Centre
Kipling

Stations that I would say have limited parking (i.e. small parking lots due to constrained land areas), more in line with a typical Metra station:
Mimico
Long Branch
Stouffville
Agincourt
Markham
Centennial (there is a parking garage here but it is fairly small, and essentially no surface parking)
West Harbour GO
NIagara Falls and St Catharines
Newmarket GO

While I agree that the big stations with thousands of spaces are the busiest stations and how most GO customers experience getting on the train, I would argue that smaller more pedestrian scale stations are far from unusual for GO.
Click to expand...

I can see GO transit selling off their lots as time goes on in order to make money. It would take nothing to contract them to IMPARK, Target Park, Etc
 
W. K. Lis said:
...with bicycle parking & stores at ground level, offices on the second level, parking garage above them, and residential on top. Residential car parking would be underground.
Click to expand...
Many of the outlying GO stations are in the middle of industrial zones so there is nothing around them other than warehouses or factories. There is no "there" there, so any kind of residential redevelopment would be a long way off if ever. On the other hand stations like Oakville and Port Credit along the Lakeshore West have higher density residential development around them already and are more urban.
 
Krypto98 said:
Also some info, it looks like the acceration is never constant all the way through. it starts to steepen 0-30km/hr and after 125km/hr starts to bottom out for most configurations.
Click to expand...

This is due to the diesel-electric transmission. At lower speeds the traction motors are not able to handle all of the amperage created by the alternator, whereas at higher speeds the voltage will start to drop off as the traction motors continue to rotate faster. The point at which these two things converge - the "transition point" - varies with the gearing of the gearbox and the output of the alternator, but with passenger equipment is usually around 25mph.

The maximum rated speeds of the various types of locomotive are 83mph (134km/h) for the F59PHs and 93mph (150km/h) for the MP40PHs and MP54s. This number is arrived by the gearing and the maximum speed of the traction motors - about 3000RPM.

Krypto98 said:
I found that most 10 car trips liked to cruse at 110-120 km/hr. while 12 car trips cruised at 90-110 km/hr. 6 car trains tend to cruse at 120-130 as well as the MP54s. By cruse i mean they stop accelerating
Click to expand...

Another variable to consider is the track profile. Any grades or curves will have a effect on the balancing speed of the train. For instance, there is a small grade westbound out of Guildwood, and that in concert with the curves really limits how quickly the trains can accelerate out of the station. Meanwhile to the east, the track is straight and drops towards the lake, meaning that the trains can very easily attain the PSO speed of 75mph in the 2 miles between the station and the level crossing at Beechgrove Dr.

Dan
 
asher__jo said:
They would give up parking revenue why?
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They would probably want a share of the profits, land back after x years, etc. They would also (maybe) want a one-time payment for the contracts.

GO needs to encourage development around stations. Metrolinx should advocate for better transit to and from GO Stations. Sadly, that will not happen in any of our lifetimes.
 
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