News   May 16, 2024
News Roundup for May 16, 2024
 29     0 
News   May 16, 2024
Downtown East
 301     0 
News   May 15, 2024
50-Storey Midtown Tower Proposed in Close Quarters to Adjacent Proposal
 2K     0 

GO has left the train station

Does GO Transit Rail contribute to sprawl?

G22 and all: Interesting article on GO Transit Rail-and its effort to build more Park and Ride stations over central core areas. Commuter Rail has the ability to take cars off roads-as an example I will mention Chicago's METRA busiest station-Route 59 on the BNSF Aurora Line-a major-and built in the last 10 years-park and ride facility.

I will mention living here on LI-that parking for the LIRR each local jurisdiction has its say-as examples I will mention Ronkonkoma-the 2nd busiest LIRR station has mostly free parking-except for a large garage at the N end of the station and the busiest LIRR station-Hicksville-the parking is basically controlled by the Town of Oyster Bay-which has metered and permit lots-those permit lots are for TOB residents only.

I feel that GO should serve equally those without cars who travel between town centers as well as those who drive to access GO Rail. The Barrie observation is interesting-does GO plan to have connecting bus service to Barrie? LI MIKE
 
RedRocket191 said:
At the very least, GO is eliminating hundreds of thousands of partial car trips. In my opinion, eliminating partial car trips is much better than eliminating no trips at all.
Click to expand...

But at the same time they are increasing the total amount of car trips, even if those car trips are shorter. The GO stations cause so much traffic congestion locally and this causes a lot of problems for the local transit systems in the 905.

So GO is not only encouraging people to drive with all these huge free parking lots, they are also discouraging people to use the local transit system because of all the delays that their train stations cause.

To be fair, GO does provide subsidize a discounted fare for local transit connecting to the train stations (and only train stations, no bus stations like Square One, one their few stations that focuses on transit instead of cars), but people usually don't travel far to connect to GO, so the local transit fare is way overpriced in the first place so it makes no difference.
 
Local buses that connect to GO stations do not effectively serve neighborhoods. Brampton has a 50 cent fare deal with GO, but what good is it when you have to walk 20 minutes through winding suburban streets to get to the stop (or down highway 10 in my case)? York Region Transit's website, at one point, didn't even guarantee that GO shuttles will run at all. How does that inspire confidence in potential riders?

There needs to be a multi-faceted approach to this problem including but not limited to:

  • Effective local transit coverage with fare integration deals for GO riders.
  • Municipalities zoning and proposing master plans which encourage high density development and re-development around GO Stations.
  • More stations for everyone
  • Fast frequent (whatever you want to call it) GO service on all lines
  • Parking for those who do not have any other options
 
Can't argue against that.

The fare integration should also extend to the TTC. This is what I have been arguing consistantly with regard to the half-baked Presto farecard, promising none of the benefits.

With more stations and more trains, running all day, you're heading towards regional rail, and the suburban systems can feed into it like the TTC buses feed the subway. The TTC doesn't have free weekday parking.

Of course there should be parking for those who need it (I am not opposed to parking) but I don't think my GO ticket should subsidize single-occupant car drivers, so I think the cost of parking should be separated from the GO fare.
 
It would be nice, though, to keep more of those cars in driveways and garages, because in the long run, a transit system loses a lot of its point if you have to drive a car to get to it - hence my skeptism regarding the Mississauga Transitway.
Click to expand...

We are not talking about the Queen Streetcar, we are talking about commuter rail. GO operates long distance commuter rail lines with in many cases the sole purpose of operating during peak hours at a cost of as much as $400 per month. GO is absolutely not undermining the idea of public transit by building a system where you have to drive to the station. Keep in mind that dozens of local bus routes in the GTA connect to GO stations for those that choose to take the bus.

But at the same time they are increasing the total amount of car trips, even if those car trips are shorter.
Click to expand...

Again, we are not talking about the Queen Streetcar where the average trip is 5 km. The one way distance to Barrie GO station might be 5 km, whereas the average trip downtown might be 100 km. Therefore, for every person who drives to Barrie GO station, there is a 95% reduction in the distance travelled by car, and a 95% reduction in the pollution generated. Who cares that they are driving? This is still a remarkable reduction in car use.

Please put GO service into the proper context. GO has essentially nothing in common with inner city transit service, except for the fact that it operates on steel rails.

I don't think my GO ticket should subsidize single-occupant car drivers, so I think the cost of parking should be separated from the GO fare.
Click to expand...

What a fantastic idea. Let's say the at any given station, the monthly pass costs $200. You should have the option of purchasing a separate transit pass for $150, and a parking pass for $50. This would also encourage carpooling. The two separate functions could be programmed onto the same card. Single day parking might cost $5 per day.
 
When I was working in a freight company at Derry and Airport Roads in the mid-1990s and living on the Danforth I always wanted to take the Go Train from Union to the Malton Station. But no, they would never offer any service in the morning from Union outbound. Go is single minded in its quest for one type of rider, that of the surburban fellow who will drive to the Station and then take the train to the office at Union. Anything else is really not well served.
 
Some GO lines have one track...in these cases, they can't run decent service both ways at the same time. Most of the now-populated 905 was farmland 30 years, or less...giving them a few decades to ramp up service is reasonable.
 
Only at Carleton station is there a passing track set up - the trains are scheduled to meet here.

I wouldn't expect subway frequencies on a single track, but bi-directional service every 30 minutes is really doable with decent equipment, proper signalling, and passing tracks, as long as there aren't freights in the way. With freights, a double-track line with 20-30 minute bi-directional service is doable with proper signalling and enough crossovers. GO is building great infrastructure though, only to accomodate 15-30 minute peak service and hourly otherwise, if it were more imaginative, a proper regional rail service could be run with what they're building or planning, even in the most congested of tracks (ie through downtown Brampton).
 
Chuck said:
What a fantastic idea. Let's say the at any given station, the monthly pass costs $200. You should have the option of purchasing a separate transit pass for $150, and a parking pass for $50. This would also encourage carpooling. The two separate functions could be programmed onto the same card. Single day parking might cost $5 per day.
Click to expand...
Indeed, awesome idea. Mr. Metrolinx are you reading this?
 
Chuck said:
Please put GO service into the proper context. GO has essentially nothing in common with inner city transit service, except for the fact that it operates on steel rails.
Click to expand...

That doesn't mean that GO should cater exclusively to people with a car. Transit should be integrated. GO shouldn't be going out of their way to make their service inaccessible to pedestrians and public transit users. That seems like discrimination to me. Just think about the skin colour and gender of the average user of local transit in the 905. GO wants to be a "premium" service like country club.
 
That doesn't mean that GO should cater exclusively to people with a car. Transit should be integrated. GO shouldn't be going out of their way to make their service inaccessible to pedestrians and public transit users. That seems like discrimination to me.
Click to expand...

Agreed, but keep in mind that some of the oldest development in the GTA is located along rail lines, and much of that is industrial. It's not as though when GO was created it could plop a station down in a densely populated neighbourhood. Even in the case of Barrie, I would assume that there was no land available in the actual city to accommodate what will likely end up being a 1000 car parking lot.

Moving forward, I'd like to see more mini-stations that are intended for people transferring from a bus. A perfect spot that comes to mind would be a York Mills station on the Richmond Hill line at Leslie and York Mills. Great redevelopment potential of that strip mall too.


Just think about the skin colour and gender of the average user of local transit in the 905. GO wants to be a "premium" service like country club.
Click to expand...

Perhaps you should alert the local media.
 
Chuck, I guess you're forgetting about GO Stations like Weston, Streetsville, Port Credit, Cooksville, Brampton, Hamilton, Aurora, Newmarket, Markham, Richmond Hill, where the stations are in or near historic downtowns, and in urban areas and where many of these (Hamilton and Brampton are very good examples) are where the buses are just down a flight of stairs. And the GO Trains are stored very close to the Allandale Station, making that stop a no-brainer to all but the Cabbageheads at GO.
 
You must log in or register to post here.

Back
Top