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GO Transit: Service thread (including extensions)

Northern Light said:
So, I'm guessing the modest June service improvement is up.....

There's a new schedule, effective June 29th from the LSE corridor.

I haven't studied it to determine what changed.
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Comparing to April 6, I'm seeing no changes to trains at all, but a lot of (seasonal?) bus cuts.

Beyond that ... the only thing that jumps out, is that all the bus stops are now shown as accessible.

I don't see any other new schedules up except for Table 81 (Port Perry/Whitby) - where they eliminate most of the Port Perry and Lake Simcoe buses - perhaps there's less demand in the summer? What did they have last summer?
 
Wow. I'm somewhat surprised to see Route 38 get canned. That eliminates the only transit in Bolton, and that service has been around for nearly 20 years, with the direct service to Malton more recently than that. I'm also a little surprised to see so many runs cut to Port Perry - unless Durham Region Transit picks up the slack. I also wonder about Route 90, which provides service between Oshawa GO, Downtown Oshawa, Courtice, Bowmanville, and Newcastle, and why that's getting slashed all of a sudden.

It doesn't look good for the business cases for extending GO service to Cambridge or Bolton. (The option to transfer to Milton Transit at Highway 25 to get to Milton GO from Cambridge is ridiculous.)
 
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Oh ... I didn't notice all the bus routes being completely cancelled (because there's no new schedules!)

In addition to Route 38 and the (non-seasonal! Route 81 to Beaverton/Port Perry), also gone is Route 20 (Milton to Oakville), Route 24 (the only service to Cambridge Bus terminal in Galt), Route 60 (Canada's Wonderland - though that seens somewhat redundant now that it's a short bus ride from Vaughan Centre subway station).

And it looks like the cut on the Bowmanville Bus from half-hour to hourly is permanent.

Sad to see the Tories cutting GO Bus service. Shame on Metrolinx for not doing this in a public meeting!
 
ShonTron said:
Wow. I'm somewhat surprised to see Route 38 get canned. That eliminates the only transit in Bolton, and that service has been around for nearly 20 years, with the direct service to Malton more recently than that. I'm also a little surprised to see so many runs cut to Port Perry - unless Durham Region Transit picks up the slack. I also wonder about Route 90, which provides service between Oshawa GO, Downtown Oshawa, Courtice, Bowmanville, and Newcastle, and why that's getting slashed all of a sudden.

It doesn't look good for the business cases for extending GO service to Cambridge or Bolton. (The option to transfer to Milton Transit at Highway 25 to get to Milton GO from Cambridge is ridiculous.)
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Wonder if this is a consequence of the budget cut mentioned here (time marked to just before the explanation starts):
 
^Municipal transit people have told me (a bit bitterly) that GO’s threshold minimum for maintaining a bus service was very low compared to what they worked with.... something in the magntude of 8-12 boarding passengers per vehicle hour, versus as much as 30 per hour for city buses. Quite possibly, GO is just recalibrating towards the median.

- Paul
 
^Ah, but think of the weekday morning trains from Niagara Falls folks! For the People. (The numbers per coach are even lower than these buses)

The 38 bus was excellent for getting north enough to cycle up Mount Hope Rd to the Caledon Trailway, and the 90 bus in from Newcastle after cycling from Port Hope along the old Lakeshore Rd (exquisite!).

The 38 bus typically would have only a few passengers for its first morning connection to the west bound Mt Pleasant train at Malton. The 90 bus, westbound mid-afternoon weekdays though has been well-used from my experience on it. I was led to believe from one of the drivers that Durham County subsidizes it somehow, and that the route accepted local bus fares.

Had to look this up, it might be telling:
Eligible One Fare GO Transit Bus Routes
  • 71 Stouffville - Uxbridge (between Goodwood and Uxbridge only)
  • 81 Beaverton - Port Perry – Whitby
  • 90 Newcastle – Oshawa
  • Visit GO Transit's website for full schedule information.
Paying Your Fare on One Fare Routes
  • Present a valid DRT paper ticket, paper pass, U-Pass, or transfer.
    • The operator will issue a GO Transit One Fare receipt when boarding with a paper ticket and transfer.
  • If paying by PRESTO or cash you will pay current GO Transit fares for your trip.
Transferring to and from One Fare Routes
  • From DRT: show your paper pass, U-Pass, or valid DRT transfer.
  • To DRT: show your paper pass, U-Pass, or valid GO Transit One Fare receipt.
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Look for a shakedown to happen from the Counties or Munis to keep these routes going.
 
Allandale25 said:
Speculative post here:
https://twitter.com/x/status/1137793852872507395
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That would be political suicide. Ford would be alienating the people who vote for him by cutting the services they use to get to work, home, etc.

For Scheer it would likely cost him votes by association.

If Ford goes through with these cuts and somehow it costs the Federal Conservatives votes in Ontario you can be sure there will be hell to pay.

My thinking is that Ford will forgoe these cuts as it is in his best interest right before an election, even a federal one.
 
Richard White said:
That would be political suicide. Ford would be alienating the people who vote for him by cutting the services they use to get to work, home, etc.
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As opposed to alienating people who vote for him use use health care, or have kids that go to school, or might be in risk of flooding, or utilize city services, or earn minimum wage?

Not sure why this would surprise anyone. This is what conservatives do. We all know that Ford would be cutting transit service and slowing development. I'm only surprised that it's not come faster and deeper.
 
nfitz said:
I'm only surprised that it's not come faster and deeper.
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I'm assuming that there's more being cut in the cover of darkness than there is in the light. A lot of the projects folks are claiming are going ahead because "RFP/Qs are already issued" are in for a shock.

I say "Watch your Ps and Qs". It's not just for Scheer's benefit that the OntCons are running deep and silent. Like any 'progrom', they don't want people asking questions. And what better way than to suspend the Legislature from sitting for the Summer?
 
Why wasn't route 38 adjusted to serve the 407 station during off peak (ie. non train connecting) times? Seems so odd how some routes are not stopping at this new station. Barrie busses are another example of where they could easily add a stop
 
Woodbridge_Heights said:
Why wasn't route 38 adjusted to serve the 407 station during off peak (ie. non train connecting) times? Seems so odd how some routes are not stopping at this new station.
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Have you got the right number? 38 was mostly a peak-only service for Bolton that met the Kitchener GO train at Malton or Etobicoke North - it would have to have gone well out of it's way to get to 407 station. A couple of peak runs were extended along the 401 from Etobicoke North GO to Yorkdale and York Mills subway station. I don't see how 407 would have helped this run.

Now that 38 is cancelled, one would think ridership was low. Though the one run I took one day from Etobicoke North (just to Woodbine) seemed busy enough (no one else was getting off!)- I"m surprised at this cancellation.
 
nfitz said:
Though the one run I took one day from Etobicoke North (just to Woodbine) seemed busy enough (no one else was getting off!)- I"m surprised at this cancellation.
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From my experience riding it, taking the second train of the day west from Bloor, getting off at Malton (it's bi-hourly), often beside myself and another cyclist, there's rarely more than two others on the bus. I had a long discussion with the driver on this, his response: "During rush-hours, this route is packed"...which then leads one to wonder the obvious: As much as I'd love the route to continue (the northernmost stop is my jumping off point to cycle up to the Caledon Trailway) I can understand chopping the off-peak runs. I don't recall the 38A ever running outside of peak, albeit it's quite a different route and destination anyway) but what appears unbelievable is canning the route for peak running.

Your observations confirm the driver's one. I'm sure some of those older drivers would be fine with split peak-only trips.

What I can taste is spite on QP's part.
 
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