GO Transit: Service thread (including extensions)

[TOareaFan]

Fun fact: one of my friends that has lived in Brampton for 20+ years didn't know that there was a train to downtown Toronto. So they always drove downtown or to the subway at finch.

I don't find that surprising at all. The terminus for future 15 min service barely even touches the core of Brampton and the 2 stations that are more deep into the city are really under-utilized for what they are.

I am a bit confused.....the future level of service at some undetermined date explains why someone who lives in Brampton and has for a long time is unaware of the current level of service? I am not buying that.

Also 1) your first point about Bramalea "barely" touches the core of Brampton...it does not touch the core (to the extent there is one) at all...but since the core is so miniscule i am not sure that matters at all.....2) the other two stations are underutilized? Aren't all 3 Brampton stations in the top 4 of boardings on the line? Maybe even the top 3? 3) Mt Pleasant is no more "deeper into the city" than Bramalea is...it is just on a different "edge" of the city and, like Bramalea will see tons of growth around it.

 

[reaperexpress]

I am a bit confused.....the future level of service at some undetermined date explains why someone who lives in Brampton and has for a long time is unaware of the current level of service? I am not buying that.

Also 1) your first point about Bramalea "barely" touches the core of Brampton...it does not touch the core (to the extent there is one) at all...but since the core is so miniscule i am not sure that matters at all.....2) the other two stations are underutilized? Aren't all 3 Brampton stations in the top 4 of boardings on the line? Maybe even the top 3? 3) Mt Pleasant is no more "deeper into the city" than Bramalea is...it is just on a different "edge" of the city and, like Bramalea will see tons of growth around it.

Yes, according to the April-December 2019 ridership map the three busiest stations on the Kitchener line (excluding Union) were:

1. Mount Pleasant
2. Bramalea
3. Brampton

Bramalea was usually #1 but perhaps some ridership temporarily shifted to the other two Brampton station due to the construction there

 

[innsertnamehere]

Fun fact: one of my friends that has lived in Brampton for 20+ years didn't know that there was a train to downtown Toronto. So they always drove downtown or to the subway at finch.

many of my extended family in Durham Region still thought that the lakeshore lines ran hourly and had only 1-2 express services at rush hour as of 2 years ago.

 

[anb]

I am a bit confused.....the future level of service at some undetermined date explains why someone who lives in Brampton and has for a long time is unaware of the current level of service? I am not buying that.

Also 1) your first point about Bramalea "barely" touches the core of Brampton...it does not touch the core (to the extent there is one) at all...but since the core is so miniscule i am not sure that matters at all.....2) the other two stations are underutilized? Aren't all 3 Brampton stations in the top 4 of boardings on the line? Maybe even the top 3? 3) Mt Pleasant is no more "deeper into the city" than Bramalea is...it is just on a different "edge" of the city and, like Bramalea will see tons of growth around it.

Yes pardon my mistake, I meant that it doesn't touch the core at all, despite it being fairly close (as in 5-10 min drive/bus ride), to BCC. As for the underutilization, its more apparent with the train service they get. I get that the local Brampton Transit has more control over downtown Brampton and Mount Pleasant terminals, but Bramalea also has a mix of GO buses and trains that are among the most frequent across the entire network. If there were more GO buses heading to these 2 stations it wouldn't be as empty as they usually are throughout the day in terms of the service that GO provides. During the off peak hours, there are usually more people getting on from Bramalea onwards in comparison to the other 2, although that has slightly changed within the past year, but the trains would still be nearly empty until getting closer to Toronto. Mount Pleasant is more surrounded with the city suburb aspect compared to Bramalea's industrial setting and would probably stay ahead of it no matter how much growth the latter gets.

 

[TOareaFan]

Yes pardon my mistake, I meant that it doesn't touch the core at all, despite it being fairly close (as in 5-10 min drive/bus ride), to BCC. As for the underutilization, its more apparent with the train service they get. I get that the local Brampton Transit has more control over downtown Brampton and Mount Pleasant terminals, but Bramalea also has a mix of GO buses and trains that are among the most frequent across the entire network. If there were more GO buses heading to these 2 stations it wouldn't be as empty as they usually are throughout the day in terms of the service that GO provides. During the off peak hours, there are usually more people getting on from Bramalea onwards in comparison to the other 2, although that has slightly changed within the past year, but the trains would still be nearly empty until getting closer to Toronto. Mount Pleasant is more surrounded with the city suburb aspect compared to Bramalea's industrial setting and would probably stay ahead of it no matter how much growth the latter gets.

The city has this in front of the province looking for an MZO....they are looking to, quite dramatically, change the landscape around the station

The proponent suggests they could, over time, house 12,500 directly across the street from the GO station.

 

[TRONto]

View attachment 374474
The city has this in front of the province looking for an MZO....they are looking to, quite dramatically, change the landscape around the station

The proponent suggests they could, over time, house 12,500 directly across the street from the GO station.

We supposedly have a lack of industrial space in the GTA so I don't know if this is a wise move. It may be a stealing from Paul to give to Peter situation.

I hope that if this happens, it is built with walkability in mind.

12 500 people sounds pretty low from what is pictured.

 

[crs1026]

We supposedly have a lack of industrial space in the GTA so I don't know if this is a wise move. It may be a stealing from Paul to give to Peter situation.

I hope that if this happens, it is built with walkability in mind.

12 500 people sounds pretty low from what is pictured.

I will leave my mind open about how pleasant a streetscape the development can become.... but the walk to the GO station, across Steeles with its width and heavy traffic, and then across that huge open parking space, is everything that's wrong about how GO stations (and arterial road crossings) are laid out.

- Paul

 

[TOareaFan]

We supposedly have a lack of industrial space in the GTA so I don't know if this is a wise move. It may be a stealing from Paul to give to Peter situation.

I hope that if this happens, it is built with walkability in mind.

12 500 people sounds pretty low from what is pictured.

There is a general shortage of industrial space across the country....but the stuff that is on the northwest corner of that intersection (the land looking to be rezoned) is not the type that people are looking for (it is - or was - old, low ceiling height stuff with parking lots not very conducive to turning/moving the trucks of today)...sure you could replace some of it with newer stuff...but not sure how much space it would actually yield....and given the competing goal of getting people closer to and using public transit, this is probably a bit of industrial land that it is worth rezoning.

Yes, it will never a "nice" walk across Steeles and through the lot....but i get the sense that people are just trying to make the best of a situation that we inherited (region wide not just Brampton) of commuter train stations in industrial areas served by wide roads. It is what it is...and if we don't do this kind of rezoning because it is not perfect...we might as well just give up here and build a couple more parking garages and tell people to just drive to the station.

 

[Krypto98]

There are lots of crews who are qualified.

But the crew that runs the afternoon stretch is quite senior, and isn't getting unseated anytime soon.

Dan

Any idea how many crews are qualified for that run?

 

[smallspy]

Any idea how many crews are qualified for that run?

I don't have hard numbers, but it seems to be about half of them.

Dan

 

[vic]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1481749434945966087

Nice.

 

[sche]

Fun fact: one of my friends that has lived in Brampton for 20+ years didn't know that there was a train to downtown Toronto. So they always drove downtown or to the subway at finch.

many of my extended family in Durham Region still thought that the lakeshore lines ran hourly and had only 1-2 express services at rush hour as of 2 years ago.

This is what Mx should be advertising instead of their pointless “transit is happening!” “we’re building world class transit” ads

 

[Krypto98]

They drove all the way to Finch! Not even Vaughan or Downsview? Someone needs to give that person a transit map.

They didn't know that there was a subway in Vaughan. They usually drove to Kipling or Finch. I had to explain to them the other day how to use the GO Train and it was a mind blowing experience for them...

I'm starting to feel alot of people don't take transit because they don't even know it exists.

 

[Allandale25]

Posting this because the Bowmanville Extension is going to use a separate bridge parallel to the existing CP bridge apparently. Also an interesting story about the engine in the video as noted in the description.

 

[TOareaFan]

They didn't know that there was a subway in Vaughan. They usually drove to Kipling or Finch. I had to explain to them the other day how to use the GO Train and it was a mind blowing experience for them...

I'm starting to feel alot of people don't take transit because they don't even know it exists.

The times we want to use the subway from here in Brampton our choices are between Kipling and 407 Station.....weirdly, Kipling wins most times....the travel times are almost identical...but only if you use the 407 so the cost advantage swings to Kipling