GO Transit: Service thread (including extensions)

[RedRocket191]

....but perhaps it is a "GO Service Improvement"....

...I subscribe to their email service where they send you a message if there are service disruptions, cancellations, changes, etc.

This morning I got this one:

"The Bramalea 09:20 - Union 09:53 train trip departed Bramalea on time. "

Things must be bad when you are sending notices when trains actually leave on time!!!!

I guess you didn't get the one a half hour earlier that said it would be 20 minutes late

 

[DavidH]

IMO before the extension even opens they should rename the line to something a bit more terminus-independent. Having the poor line go through life as the Richmond Hill/Gormley/Bloomington/Vandorf with each potential extension would be silly. Maybe the "Don River line"?

This is because GO generally names routes, bus and train, after their destinations, not the path taken. The Lakeshore line is a major exception to this, of course.

Perhaps they should just start referring to train lines using the letters they use on the maps.

 

[TOareaFan]

I guess you didn't get the one a half hour earlier that said it would be 20 minutes late

No I didn't! (or it got lost in the sea of emails I get at that time)....but, in isolation....it is pretty funny! Perhaps it should have said:

"Correction: The Bramalea 09:20 - Union 09:53 train trip departed Bramalea on time. "

Anyway...all good fun....except that if they sent an email out at 9:01 (30 minutes before the one I got) saying the the train was gonna leave at 9:40 and someone adjusted their morning schedule accordingly (stopped for a coffee, a paper, walked their dog, whatever) then got to the station and found out the train left on time and then, 11 minutes later, got an email saying it left on time....wow, kinda defeats the point of the email system (wow, what started as a joking posting has turned all serious!).

 

[TOareaFan]

This is because GO generally names routes, bus and train, after their destinations, not the path taken. The Lakeshore line is a major exception to this, of course.

Perhaps they should just start referring to train lines using the letters they use on the maps.

I like colours....blue line, orange line, chartreuse line, etc. (would make for fun watching ocassional users running around trying to find out what chartreuse looked like!)

 

[DavidH]

I like colours....blue line, orange line, chartreuse line, etc. (would make for fun watching ocassional users running around trying to find out what chartreuse looked like!)

Or perhaps we could just sell naming rights. The Microsoft Line, the McDonalds Line, and such. The Bell Telephone Line would also have a ring to it...

Or we could trump Vancouver's Canada Line by naming one of the lines the "Earth Line".

In all seriousness, though, this is something that GO has addressed on bus routes through the addition of route numbers, and something equivalent needs to happen on trains. The problems on trains are less critical than they were on buses, to be sure, but they are present.

 

[Second_in_pie]

Or perhaps we could just sell naming rights. The Microsoft Line, the McDonalds Line, and such. The Bell Telephone Line would also have a ring to it...

D:

In all seriousness, though, this is something that GO has addressed on bus routes through the addition of route numbers, and something equivalent needs to happen on trains. The problems on trains are less critical than they were on buses, to be sure, but they are present.

Really, I think it's all fine. Maybe they should rename some of their lines to the most important service areas (Milton's obviously Mississauga, Stouffville's really more Scarborough-Markham, Georgetown's really more Etobicoke-Brampton.) But I don't think there's that much of a problem with the current system.

 

[Dan416]

Letters for GO would be fine, numbers for the subway lines would be fine.

 

[gghtransit]

Letters for GO would be fine, numbers for the subway lines would be fine.

Especially considering all the lines have letters assigned already , just look at the GO system map, they are on there.

 

[Dan416]

Especially considering all the lines have letters assigned already , just look at the GO system map, they are on there.

yes i know. and the subway lines have assigned numbers

 

[tapper of spines]

For those that are interested, the EA for the Richmond Hill line expansion has been posted:

http://www.gotransit.com/PUBLIC/en/news/ea/richmondhill/ea_richmondhill.htm

TOS

 

[Kiwi]

GO unveils rush-hour bike parking
Starting at Hamilton and Burlington stations

September 18, 2009
Carmela Fragomeni
A new GO Transit pilot project in Hamilton and Burlington will allow cyclists a secure place to park their bikes when travelling by GO train or bus during rush hour.

Cyclists can currently take their bikes with them on buses (on racks in front) and trains, but not during rush hour. They can also park their bikes at outside unsecured bike racks.

The $85,000 new pilot gives cyclists the opportunity to double lock their bikes -- first onto an individual bike rack, and secondly in a glassed-in room that is locked and accessible only through a microchipped security key mechanism.

The secure bike parking is available for $50 a year starting Oct. 1 and can be obtained through applications available on GO’s website, at the Hamilton and Burlington GO stations, and at Toronto’s Union Station customer service.

The Hamilton station has 25 parking spots and there are 20 in Burlington

Liberal MPP ted McMeekin unveils GO's new bike-parking area at the Hamilton station to Mayor Fred Eisenberger

 

[nfitz]

Free parking for cars ... but you have to pay to park a bicycle?

What next, free parking for cars, but there will be a toll gate for pedestrians walking to the station?

 

[kEiThZ]

What they could really use are luggage storage lockers as well.

 

[Second_in_pie]

Free parking for cars ... but you have to pay to park a bicycle?

What next, free parking for cars, but there will be a toll gate for pedestrians walking to the station?

To be fair, these "bike racks" look pretty advanced stuff. Unless there's something I'm not getting. It's not like all the regular bike racks they have are going to cost something, right?

I'd compare it to parking in a private parking garage that you're a member for?

 

[RedRocket191]

Free parking for cars ... but you have to pay to park a bicycle?

What next, free parking for cars, but there will be a toll gate for pedestrians walking to the station?

They have always been planning to move to paid parking in some way. As you can imagine it would be a public relations nightmare so they have been biding their time, waiting for just the right moment. DavidH can shed more light on this.