Instead of lower off-peak fares, another way to fill those trains is to simply reduce the amount of trains in service. Cut the service in half, and the trains will be twice as full.
Shit!! you mean I now have to wait 2 hrs for a train doing this?? Who going to pay me the extra 2 hrs for travel??
Students would have to take an early train to get to school and have no after school job.
A real ""DUMB"" idea as to kill transit. Must work for the car folks.
Not sure what GO use as an hour rate for a train, but lets say $1,000/hr.
Not every rider is going to/from Toronto from my travels in the west.
I would say there would be about 300-500 riders on the train between Union and Aldershot at some point.
Using an average current fare of $8/rider, GO is taking in $2,400 to $4,000 or $1,200 to $3,000 profit.
At $4 per rider, GO is making a profit off those riders between $200 to $1,000. Now if you add in the unused seats 1,200-1,000, that an extra $4,800 to $4,000. Using all the seats at a lower cost, GO is making a higher profit rate as well helping to move cars off the road.
Even if you did this, there will still be empty seats late at night.