GO Transit: Service thread (including extensions)

[dkt]

On the other side of the topic, why would they still run Omicron levels of service during March Break? Wouldn’t there be such a high demand for Exhibition, Niagara, Kitchener and Barrie travelers so more trains would be necessary? Kids are at school in class now so the time off would encourage more ridership with families and friends taking GO, especially with the fare discounts getting introduced.

students at Waterloo and Laurier had our break the week of Family Day -- so Go already missed that opportunity

I keep checking the Kitchener line schedule and being disappointed that we're *still* at peak-only train service. come onnnnn

 

[Urban Sky]

students at Waterloo and Laurier had our break the week of Family Day -- so Go already missed that opportunity

I keep checking the Kitchener line schedule and being disappointed that we're *still* at peak-only train service. come onnnnn

As much as I understand the complaints about crowding at peak hours on many Corridors, what exactly is the insufferable hardship here? That a few dozen students in Waterloo have to take the bus every hour to Bramalea to transfer into a train rather than having one of these connections every 4 hours replaced by extending one of these hourly trains to Kitchener, which would still take students traveling between Laurier University and any GO train station along the Kitchener corridor the same travel time (approx. 2h20) and the same number of transfers (i.e. 1)?

I habe no doubt that the service levels from last autumn (which, as we have already established, were the most frequent ever offered) will get permanently restored soon, but I don’t understand why restoring mid-day service to Kitchener would be such a high priority compared to much more glaring gaps across the network…

 

[smallspy]

If 15-minute service isn't in the cards, then what is? Service was every 15 minutes in September 2021, and it's currently every 30 minutes.

It appears that first priority is restoring a lot of the service on the "branches", as well as extending the half-hourly service on the Lakeshore Line. There may also be the return of some limited expresses as well.

Dan

 

[Mr Finish Line]

I've been forced to drive into the city a few times recently due to the lack of any weekend service on the Stouffville Line. It feels like it was restored a lot quicker after the last time lockdown restrictions were eased.

 

[dkt]

As much as I understand the complaints about crowding at peak hours on many Corridors, what exactly is the insufferable hardship here? That a few dozen students in Waterloo have to take the bus every hour to Bramalea to transfer into a train rather than having one of these connections every 4 hours replaced by extending one of these hourly trains to Kitchener, which would still take students traveling between Laurier University and any GO train station along the Kitchener corridor the same travel time (approx. 2h20) and the same number of transfers (i.e. 1)?

I habe no doubt that the service levels from last autumn (which, as we have already established, were the most frequent ever offered) will get permanently restored soon, but I don’t understand why restoring mid-day service to Kitchener would be such a high priority compared to much more glaring gaps across the network…

I mean I'm just commenting on something local to me lol. Ideally the system would be better across the board. A more noticeable gap for me would be the lack of route 30 buses on the weekends but AFAIK that's never been a thing

but it is really weird to see Metrolinx talking about all-day Union-Kitchener train service (article from yesterday: https://www.therecord.com/news/wate...oins-study-to-build-all-day-go-ridership.html) while simultaneously decreasing service on the same corridor. how does that work??

 

[Bureaucromancer]

So for all the folks saying that service was obviously coming back, we’re now on to “well, what we had last year was probably excessive”.

And yes, I entirely agree that it is exceedingly weird how much more easily services were brought back after the first round of cuts.

 

[Krypto98]

I mean I'm just commenting on something local to me lol. Ideally the system would be better across the board. A more noticeable gap for me would be the lack of route 30 buses on the weekends but AFAIK that's never been a thing

but it is really weird to see Metrolinx talking about all-day Union-Kitchener train service (article from yesterday: https://www.therecord.com/news/wate...oins-study-to-build-all-day-go-ridership.html) while simultaneously decreasing service on the same corridor. how does that work??

Last October there were 3 counter peak roundtrip trains. One in the morning, Early afternoon and late evening. I would say the corridor is pretty much at capacity in that regard unless passing tracks were added West of Georgetown.

 

[Allandale25]

Region joins study to build all-day GO ridership

Provincial study will look at expanded bus service to Guelph, which could build ridership for all-day, two-way GO

www.therecord.com

The report is here on PDF page 33: https://calendar.regionofwaterloo.c...he-Whole/0082d611-f3b6-4133-bde2-ae5200dbbc44

 

[dkt]

what exactly is the insufferable hardship here? That a few dozen students in Waterloo have to take the bus every hour to Bramalea to transfer into a train rather than having one of these connections every 4 hours replaced by extending one of these hourly trains to Kitchener, which would still take students traveling between Laurier University and any GO train station along the Kitchener corridor the same travel time (approx. 2h20) and the same number of transfers (i.e. 1)?

okay well I just tried to do that exact thing yesterday and the bus arrived at Bramalea station after the last train had already left. Had to wait an hour at the station for another bus to arrive to take me to Union. Admittedly this was my first time on the Kitchener line, but this really doesn't seem like usable service!

 

[nfitz]

okay well I just tried to do that exact thing yesterday and the bus arrived at Bramalea station after the last train had already left. Had to wait an hour at the station for another bus to arrive to take me to Union. Admittedly this was my first time on the Kitchener line, but this really doesn't seem like usable service!

Once I took one of the Friday buses from UW to Bramalea, that when went on to 407 station. That worked so well, I don't know why it only happens on Fridays.

 

[mdu]

Once I took one of the Friday buses from UW to Bramalea, that when went on to 407 station. That worked so well, I don't know why it only happens on Fridays.

I'm not 100% sure about the service right now since it's not on the online schedule, but the old schedules had a LOT more service on Fridays on account of students return to the GTA on weekends, including express-to-SQ1 and a 407 trip; I assume they moved the 407 trip to the 30 since they extended that to UW recently.

 

[dkt]

I'm not 100% sure about the service right now since it's not on the online schedule, but the old schedules had a LOT more service on Fridays on account of students return to the GTA on weekends, including express-to-SQ1 and a 407 trip; I assume they moved the 407 trip to the 30 since they extended that to UW recently.

As far as I can tell the 407 trip was the 25F route, which doesn't seem to be running at all right now. The Square One route is happening every day and the 30 still ends at Bramalea and only runs on weekdays.

 

[ARG1]

As far as I can tell the 407 trip was the 25F route, which doesn't seem to be running at all right now. The Square One route is happening every day and the 30 still ends at Bramalea and only runs on weekdays.

Yep.

To add on to that, the 25F had VERY limited service. It was something like busses to H407 Friday evenings, and busses to Waterloo Sunday evenings.

 

[reaperexpress]

As far as I can tell the 407 trip was the 25F route, which doesn't seem to be running at all right now. The Square One route is happening every day and the 30 still ends at Bramalea and only runs on weekdays.

The 25F was awesome. At the time it was introduced, I was studying at the University of Waterloo, and had family in Vaughan. It was a total game changer, cutting a solid half hour off of the next fastest option which was the 25C Express to Square One, then transferring to 45, 46 or 47 to YorkU. Westbound trips ran non-stop starting from Hurontario/407 Park & Ride, which meant that they could just drive to conditions and usually arrive in Waterloo early, sometimes covering the trip in barely over an hour. I would usually plan on catching bus connections at Laurier which were scheduled to depart as much as 10 minutes before the GO bus was scheduled to arrive.

It's also noteworthy that they had significantly underestimated the demand for a much-faster service along a pre-existing route. The "F" buses were all completely jam packed from day one, consistently leaving people behind. They doubled the service frequency in the next schedule change, after which the buses were consistently full but not overcrowded. I think it supports my theory that GO's service planning underestimates the effect of scheduled speed on ridership demand among students. They seem to assume that if a service exists, that students will take it no matter how slow it is because they are "captive riders". See for example how in 2021 they increased service to 2 buses per hour on the 25 Local, without reinstating any express services at all. It's not a matter of operating costs - it have would cost exactly the same to run 1 bus per hour local to Square One + 1 bus per hour to Kipling via Square One. But in reality, students will often be dissuaded by long travel times and instead seek alternatives such as ride sharing, private bus operators, or simply not travelling as often.

Here's the September 2019 Route 25 weekday schedule (from my GO schedule archive):

To add on to that, the 25F had VERY limited service. It was something like busses to H407 Friday evenings, and busses to Waterloo Sunday evenings.

The 25F only ran on Fridays and Sundays, but on those days it did run in both directions. In the present service the 25F has effectively been replaced by Route 30, which is an okay substitute given the frequent service from Bramalea to Highway 407 station.

 

[ARG1]

The 25F only ran on Fridays and Sundays, but on those days it did run in both directions. In the present service the 25F has effectively been replaced by Route 30, which is an okay substitute given the frequent service from Bramalea to Highway 407 station.

Ah ok.