GO Transit: Service thread (including extensions)

[WB62]

This would assume everyone with a bike starts and ends at the same station (maybe they do IDK). Otherwise it would impar the dwell time if a rider has to exit their car to enter another cr to get their bike. If a bunch of rider move to the 'bike car' before their station, doesn't that create the same problem? Could all the affected platform handle an extra car?

Every station between Mount Pleasant and Malton has a lot of bikers getting on, they mostly get off at Union but a majority also get off at Bloor.

 

[max]

A lot of these e bikes that the food delivery guys use are rentals. You buy a bunch of e bikes and then rent them out for a daily or weekly fee to international students.

for those who dont know "zoomo" and "zygg" are the 2 most popular ebike rental places. Upwards of $300 a month.
NCM is a brand that sells cheap $1k ebikes with the cheapest parts found.

Those 3 make up like 75-90% of the ubers/doordashers

Well if that's the case then this becomes a lot simpler to ban the e-bikes from trains. Those businesses, or others like them would be forced to set up shop near where the deliveries are happening and deal with overnight storage themselves if they want to stay in business. The transit system can stop subsidizing their business model of moving their bikes around and compel them to provide services closer to where they are needed.

I was already wondering if this would be viable after having seen an e-bike rental somewhere around Dundas & Parliament. If the majority of bikes are rented then you're not creating a huge sunk cost for the delivery guys with a ban.

 

[sixrings]

Well if that's the case then this becomes a lot simpler to ban the e-bikes from trains. Those businesses, or others like them would be forced to set up shop near where the deliveries are happening and deal with overnight storage themselves if they want to stay in business. The transit system can stop subsidizing their business model of moving their bikes around and compel them to provide services closer to where they are needed.

I was already wondering if this would be viable after having seen an e-bike rental somewhere around Dundas & Parliament. If the majority of bikes are rented then you're not creating a huge sunk cost for the delivery guys with a ban.

Apparently you are heartless and or racist for not being concerned with their last mile commute.

 

[Bureaucromancer]

Apparently you are heartless and or racist for not being concerned with their last mile commute.

Has anyone said this shit?

no. They haven’t.

there have been objections to racialzed language on the lines of literal ’those peoples’.

there have been comments about financial hardship.

there have been comments about vulnerable and exploited populations.

there have been notes about larger immigration and student visa policies playing into this.

******* NO ONE has been spewing accusations that talking about this situation being problematic is inherently racist,

 

[gabe]

Why did you edit your comment to take out the part where you were on the GO train and people missed their stop because they couldn’t get out because of bikes being in their way?

Because i said the same thing a few pages back and people got upset. Last trip on Kitchener Line i sat in the disabled seating area. I was with my boyfriends nephew who has muscular dystrophy and is in a wheelchair. The car conductor did a fantastic job keeping bikes and people with no disabilities out of that section I'm amazed how many people sit there, like it's some kind of VIP seating area. Those seats are for people with accessibility problems.

GO could use more car conductors through out the train, making sure e bikes drivers aren't blocking doors. Trains are built for people not bikes.

 

[WB62]

The car conductor did a fantastic job keeping bikes

Bikes are a hard no in the accessibility coach, bikers are the only group that CSA’s are allowed to deny entry to the accessibility coach (there are one or two people that have an exception to this rule), everyone else has to be let on because some disabilities are invisible, it’s unfortunate but the only way to avoid backlash from someone with an invisible disability

 

[max]

Apparently you are heartless and or racist for not being concerned with their last mile commute.

I did acknowledge the last mile of the courier commute in an earlier comment.

Metrolinx recent rule change may be an indication that downtown storage is going to be even less likely in the future. I'm assuming the logic is, if no one is actively supervising each bike (ie. just a security camera on someone's screen monitoring for theft) then any battery issues will likely not be caught until significant damage occurs.

Thinking about this though, I wonder if the bikes themselves can be stored downtown but the batteries transported. After all, they'd likely need to take the batteries home to charge up at the end of the day. Assuming these explosions are happening when the batteries are active either being drained or drawing power then transporting them without the bikes would be safer.

Of course, the other reason why they are likely taking the bikes on the train is that last mile transit solutions aren't terribly great for these couriers after they disembark from their GO train at the end of the day. Having them stash a second bike in another city is just another cost they'd have to bear.

Looking back I stand by my comment that they could have a second (possibly non-powered bike) in their home cities. Also, I believe that since that comment we got more news on fare integration and so improved transit is an attractive solution for couriers.

I have no sympathy for the businesses that have chosen to locate themselves in an area separate from where their product is needed. In doing so they are using public goods in the form of transit space to increase their profit margins. Transit is provided to move people, you want to move goods, rent a truck. This has created significant challenges and I have no problem with rules and enforcement that makes their businesses untenable and if that makes me heartless, then so be it.

As for my alleged racism, I'd invite you to point to any comment where I mention any person's race. However, if you meant to accuse me of racism against batteries, I admittedly did advocate for segregation, guilty as charged!

 

[gabe]

Well if that's the case then this becomes a lot simpler to ban the e-bikes from trains. Those businesses, or others like them would be forced to set up shop near where the deliveries are happening and deal with overnight storage themselves if they want to stay in business. The transit system can stop subsidizing their business model of moving their bikes around and compel them to provide services closer to where they are needed.

I was already wondering if this would be viable after having seen an e-bike rental somewhere around Dundas & Parliament. If the majority of bikes are rented then you're not creating a huge sunk cost for the delivery guys with a ban.

Also there is a lot of fly-by-nighters who rent out ebikes, they advertise on social media, or Kijiji and rent them out their shed or a garage. God knows what kind of cheap parts they got on those bikes.

 

[Richard White]

Also there is a lot of fly-by-nighters who rent out ebikes, they advertise on social media, or Kijiji and rent them out their shed or a garage. God knows what kind of cheap parts they got on those bikes.

I am surprised that none of these people have decided to buy mopeds or motorcycles. It would make getting around easier.

 

[sixrings]

I am surprised that none of these people have decided to buy mopeds or motorcycles. It would make getting around easier.

“These people.” Here we go…

 

[reaperexpress]

Because i said the same thing a few pages back and people got upset. Last trip on Kitchener Line i sat in the disabled seating area. I was with my boyfriends nephew who has muscular dystrophy and is in a wheelchair. The car conductor did a fantastic job keeping bikes and people with no disabilities out of that section I'm amazed how many people sit there, like it's some kind of VIP seating area. Those seats are for people with accessibility problems.

Bicycles are indeed forbidden from entering the accessibility coach. However those seats are not only for people with accessibility problems. People without disabilities are allowed to sit in the disabled seating area as long as they give up the space for anyone who might need it.

Source: GO Transit Accessibility Guide:

Priority Seating is mandated under Provincial Regulation 191-11 of the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act. Customers without a disability will need to move from a priority seat if asked by a customer with a disability. On GO Trains, Priority Seating is located on the lower level of the accessible railcar. The accessible railcar is the fifth railcar from the locomotive.

 

[reaperexpress]

The way the Netherlands handles this is by having decent bike parking at the station

Point of clarification: the Netherlands handle this by having free weather-protected and secured bicycle parking at the station, and free weather-protected parking that allows you to park for an extended period of time. They also charge a €7.50/day ($10.90) to bring a bike aboard a train, and even then it's only outside of peak periods, only on domestic trains, and only if there happens to be space on the train.

Source: ns.nl

Meanwhile in Ontario it's the opposite. You can bring your bike onto a train for free, but you need to pay to use secure bike parking facilities at stations. You don't need to be an economist to see that this will encourage people to bring bikes onto trains rather than parking them at stations.

 

[micheal_can]

Point of clarification: the Netherlands handle this by having very good free weather-protected and secured bicycle parking at the station, and free parking that allows you to park for an extended period of time, they charge a €7.50/day ($10.90) to bring a bike aboard a train outside of peak periods, and they forbid bikes altogether during peak periods.

Source: ns.nl

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Meanwhile in Ontario it's the opposite. You can bring your bike onto a train for free, but you need to pay to use secure bike parking facilities at stations. You don't need to be an economist to see understand how this will encourage people to bring bikes onto trains rather than parking them at stations.

Kinda hard to only allow them off peak when some GO lines are only peak service.

 

[sixrings]

Kinda hard to only allow them off peak when some GO lines are only peak service.

So we should allow bikes on trains at all times until the Milton line is completely constructed.

 

[micheal_can]

So we should allow bikes on trains at all times until the Milton line is completely constructed.

Yes, but have restrictions. Could be as simple as if there is not a specific spot for a bike left on the train, it cannot goon the train.