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GO Transit: Service thread (including extensions)

ShonTron said:
Interestingly, the new GO station is where the original Great Western/Grand Trunk station was. The CNR Station (now the LIUNA Hall) where the GO trains stopped until 1996 replaced the original.
Click to expand...
Can't wait to see what "built to a price" shed will be thrown up across from LIUNA.
 
DHLawrence85 said:
Shame they couldn't have made a deal with LIUNA to get control of the concourse and platforms back.
Click to expand...

I have to bite my tongue on this, but LIUNA is the kind of union that is well, er, yeah.

It is a beautiful facility inside, which I only got in to once. The concourse is the main event space, so it would not work with the station's current use as an event hall.
 
The agenda for next week's Metrolinx meeting was briefly on their website, before it was taken down.

I'd only looked at the proposed 2013 fare increase before it was taken down. But it looks as though they are significantly raising fares again in 2013, much higher than the inflation rate. They claim it's a 5% increase, but doing the math it's 7.8% on some short routes, and even 6.5% after you account for their changes to the Presto discount (it's increasing 1.25%). CPI is under 2% currently.

Part of the logic of the fare increase is to provide increased service, including:
- Additional shoulder-peak trips on Stouffville, Richmond Hill and Lakeshore rail corridors
- Extension of Lakeshore West service from Burlington to Aldershot
- 30 minute rail service on Lakeshore corridor
- Mid-day service on Barrie corridor to Aurora (2 hr)
- Additional train each rush hour on either Barrie or Stouffville

The report was available here: http://www.metrolinx.com/en/docs/pdf/board_agenda/20121205/20121205_BoardMtg_Fare_Increase_EN.pdf

The executive summary is quoted below. If anyone wants me to e-mail the PDF, please message me.

Executive Summary

As part of the annual business plan process, fares for GO Transit are examined to
determine if an increase is warranted. A fare increase of approximately 5% is being
recommended at this time to meet the needs of our growing customer base and to ensure
fiscal responsibility.

A number of factors were considered in order to determine the size of the increase:

• The planned introduction of a number of service improvements for fiscal 2013/14 to
respond to the growing customer demand in both rail and bus operations;
• In several past years, fare increases have not always kept pace with cost
escalations of GO Transit’s key cost drivers, such as diesel fuel, hydro and major
contract escalation; and
• Sufficient funding is required to maintain the high levels of reliability and customer
service that have been accomplished over the last number of years.

The fare increase is expected to allow GO Transit to continue to grow its ridership in
2013/14 and continue to achieve its on-time performance of 95 percent. Included in
service improvements are:

• Additional trains and buses for select corridors to facilitate ridership growth and
overcrowding;
• 30-minute rail service on the Lakeshore corridor;
• Mid-day rail service on the Barrie corridor to Aurora;
• Additional peak rail service on either Barrie or Stouffville corridor;
• Additional train meet bus service to complement new mid-day service on the
Lakeshore and Barrie corridors; and
• Additional bus trips to Oshawa and University of Ontario Institute of Technology.
Without this fare increase, GO Transit will not be able to move forward with the planned
service improvements.

GO Transit has two major sources of operating revenue – customer fares and a Provincial subsidy. The fare increase assumes that the Provincial subsidy will remain at its current level of support. GO Transit has one of the best cost recovery ratios in the world at about 80 percent.

Because GO fares are based on a “fare by distance†approach, staff are proposing a 3-tiered increase which would see a larger increase for the longer distance rider than the short distance rider. This hybrid method was implemented last year and is better suited for the fare by distance approach. It also recognizes that a number of GO’s key cost drivers, such as diesel fuel, are variable by distance travelled.

In conjunction with the fare increase, staff are proposing to increase the price differential between paper tickets (single ride and day pass) and fares paid via the PRESTO farecard. The premium on the paper tickets will rise from 7.5% to approximately 10%. This will encourage more GO users to migrate to the PRESTO card.
In order to increase the premium on paper tickets, base adult single fares will be increased as follows:

• a 35 cent increase on fares between $4.50 and $5.80
• a 45 cent increase on fares between $5.81 and $7.35
• a 55 cent increase on fares greater than $7.35

In conjunction with the base fare increases, the discount for PRESTO card fare (adult) will be increased as outlined below. The net result will be an approximate 5% effective rate of increase for PRESTO adult fares.

• Rides 1 to 35 in the same month: discount increased from 7.5% to 8.75%
• Rides 36 to 40 in the same month: discount increased from 87.5% to 87.75%
• Rides 41+ in the same month: discount unchanged at 100%

For example, the current fare from Union Station to Oakville is $6.86 for a single adult paper ticket, and $6.34 for a PRESTO fare (applying the 7.5% PRESTO discount currently applicable to Rides 1-35 in a given month). If the proposed fare increase is implemented, after February 1, 2013, the fare from Union Station to Oakville will be $7.30 for a single adult paper ticket, and $6.66 for a PRESTO fare (applying the minimum 8.75% PRESTO discount that will be applicable to Rides 1-35 in a given month). In this example, the result of the proposed fare increase would be an increase of approximately 5% in the PRESTO fare ($6.34 increased to $6.66).

After taking into consideration the loyalty discount program and concession fares available on the PRESTO farecard, it is estimated the average increase will be approximately 31 cents per ride. The proposed effective date of the increase is February 1, 2013 and would generate an estimated $20.2 million in additional revenue annually.
Click to expand...
 
nfitz said:
The agenda for next week's Metrolinx meeting was briefly on their website, before it was taken down.

I'd only looked at the proposed 2013 fare increase before it was taken down. But it looks as though they are significantly raising fares again in 2013, much higher than the inflation rate. They claim it's a 5% increase, but doing the math it's 7.8% on some short routes, and even 6.5% after you account for their changes to the Presto discount (it's increasing 1.25%). CPI is under 2% currently.

Part of the logic of the fare increase is to provide increased service, including:
- Additional shoulder-peak trips on Stouffville, Richmond Hill and Lakeshore rail corridors
- Extension of Lakeshore West service from Burlington to Aldershot
- 30 minute rail service on Lakeshore corridor
- Mid-day service on Barrie corridor to Aurora (2 hr)
- Additional train each rush hour on either Barrie or Stouffville

The report was available here: http://www.metrolinx.com/en/docs/pdf/board_agenda/20121205/20121205_BoardMtg_Fare_Increase_EN.pdf

The executive summary is quoted below. If anyone wants me to e-mail the PDF, please message me.
Click to expand...

That's a steep increase. Normally GO fare increases have been in the flat 15 to 25 cent per single ride range.

It would have been nice if GO adjusted its fare structure to fix lopsided fares; Brampton GO Station is closer to Union by rail distance than Oakville, but has a higher fare. Brampton is the only large municipality that doesn't benefit from service improvements listed above.
 
ShonTron said:
Brampton is the only large municipality that doesn't benefit from service improvements listed above.
Click to expand...
Presumably Brampton improvements would come in 2014/2015 rather than 2012/2013 or 2013/2014 because of all the construction on that line.

The report is back on-line ... however it's been re-written since the one released earlier afternoon, removing ALL the details of the 2013/2014 improvements, which were on a slide:

Fare Increase Needed to Support GO’s 13/14 Planned Service Growth
• 30 minute rail service on Lakeshore corridor
• Additional 12-car trains to relieve crowding
• Mid-day service on Barrie corridor to Aurora (2 hr)
• Additional train each rush hour on either Barrie or Stouffville
• Additional bus service on selected corridors to handle ridership growth exceeding 10%
• Additional train meet service to complement new mid-day rail service on Lakeshore and Barrie corridors
• Additional bus trips to Oshawa and University of Ontario Institute of Technology

Hopefully it's taken out simply because they don't want to announce it here, rather than it's not happening.
 
I may be biased here, but I'm most excited about 30 min service on the Lakeshore corridor. Hopefully that's 2013 and not 2014.

And yes, it looks like Brampton is getting shafted. Hopefully once the Georgetown South track work is completed, Brampton will see a significant boost in service.
 
Mississauga is shafted too!

Sure Lakeshore will see service improvements but most people in Mississauga don't live anywhere near Lakeshore.
 
nfitz said:
Presumably Brampton improvements would come in 2014/2015 rather than 2012/2013 or 2013/2014 because of all the construction on that line.

The report is back on-line ... however it's been re-written since the one released earlier afternoon, removing ALL the details of the 2013/2014 improvements, which were on a slide:

Fare Increase Needed to Support GO’s 13/14 Planned Service Growth
• 30 minute rail service on Lakeshore corridor
• Additional 12-car trains to relieve crowding
• Mid-day service on Barrie corridor to Aurora (2 hr)
• Additional train each rush hour on either Barrie or Stouffville
• Additional bus service on selected corridors to handle ridership growth exceeding 10%
• Additional train meet service to complement new mid-day rail service on Lakeshore and Barrie corridors
• Additional bus trips to Oshawa and University of Ontario Institute of Technology

Hopefully it's taken out simply because they don't want to announce it here, rather than it's not happening.
Click to expand...

This "Barrie or Stouffville" business and extra buses on trips with 10% growth makes me worry that Stouffville will only get more buses, but I'll wait patiently to see which line wins the sweepstakes!

What will come first, 15-minute service on the lakeshore or all-day service to Brampton and Markham?
 
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