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Missing Links in the GO Bus Network

dunkalunk

dunkalunk

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Off the top of my head, here are a few I can think of in the west end:

[LEGEND]
Routes displayed West to East
Transfers with: Lakeshore West Line Milton Line Kitchener Line GO Bus Terminal

New Route (via Highway 6)
Waterloo-Kitchener-Cambridge-Aldershot-Hamilton

New Route (via Highway 6)
Waterloo-Kitchener-Guelph-Aberfoyle-Aldershot-Hamilton

Route 25 Extension
Waterloo-Kitchener-Cambridge-Aberfoyle-Milton-Square One-Cooksville-Port Credit

Route 48 Extension (Kitchener Train-Bus)
Waterloo-Kitchener-Guelph-Aberfoyle-Milton-Bramlea-York University

Any others you can think of?
 
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Extending the Kitchener-Square One bus to Port Credit is pointless. Mississauga Transit route 19/103 is perfectly adequate here.

Kitchener-Hamilton might be a useful route, but I doubt it if there is really enough demand to justify a Guelph-Hamilton bus as well. If there is a proper Guelph-Kitchener bus this should be unnecessary.

Extending either Guelph-York U, Guelph-York Mills, Guelph-Union or all three to Kitchener seems like a no brainer to me. Also there really need to be extra short turn buses that run between Guelph and Kitchener only, to fill in the gaps between buses, because this section of the route can easily sustain 30 or even 15 minute bus service.
 
andrewpmk said:
Extending the Kitchener-Square One bus to Port Credit is pointless. Mississauga Transit route 19/103 is perfectly adequate here.
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It's not pointless if you are looking to do an in-system GO transfer to the Lakeshore GO line, which is currently impossible with the current setup, necessitating either a $3.50 ride on MiWay + TTC, or backtracking from Union to get to places in Etobicoke.

Kitchener-Hamilton might be a useful route, but I doubt it if there is really enough demand to justify a Guelph-Hamilton bus as well. If there is a proper Guelph-Kitchener bus this should be unnecessary.
Click to expand...

Those two routes would be part of the same route. One would run express from Kitchener to Hamilton, while the other would run through Guelph, much in the way Greyhound does today. Ideally, there would be a timed transfer at the Aberfoyle Park and Ride Station by Guelph Transit, or as an extension of a Kitchener-Guelph route. The more service that can be consolidated on the 401, the better, as the detour through Guelph adds about 30 minutes to the trip between Kitchener and points east.
 
I think that the following could be feasible:
1) Waterloo-Kitchener-Guelph-Bramalea-York
2)Waterloo-Kitchener-Cambridge-Aldershot-Hamilton

There is a large demand for Kitchener-Guelph travel, and is currently only served by Greyhound, and to a lesser extent, VIA.
 
If GO ever goes around to making a Kitchener GO Train-Bus (like they said if demand warrants it), it would arguably go Kitchener-Guelph-Bramalea. We don't need the Waterloo stretch arguably; it's about 15-20 minutes by the iXpress between Waterloo the Kitchener rail station.
 
I've been thinking about connectivity lately. One thing that might make sense is for GO buses coming down Highway 404 to make a stop to interchange with the buses on Highway 7. I'm not sure about the configuration of the interchange there: does it allow or can it be easily modified to allow a bus to exit, cross 7, and then enter the 404 again?
 
dunkalunk said:
It's not pointless if you are looking to do an in-system GO transfer to the Lakeshore GO line, which is currently impossible with the current setup, necessitating either a $3.50 ride on MiWay + TTC, or backtracking from Union to get to places in Etobicoke.



Those two routes would be part of the same route. One would run express from Kitchener to Hamilton, while the other would run through Guelph, much in the way Greyhound does today. Ideally, there would be a timed transfer at the Aberfoyle Park and Ride Station by Guelph Transit, or as an extension of a Kitchener-Guelph route. The more service that can be consolidated on the 401, the better, as the detour through Guelph adds about 30 minutes to the trip between Kitchener and points east.
Click to expand...

How many people seriously want to go from Port Credit to Kitchener? If the problem is that the fares for GO bus users transferring to other systems are too high, then GO should start applying the 65 cent co fare program to GO bus users using the Presto card, which really ought to be done anyway. Running GO buses between Port Credit and Cooksville/Square One, which will undoubtedly be mostly empty because most of the demand there is local demand and MT fares are lower, is a waste of money.
 
If we can turn back time:
1. GO should be providing what Niagara Region Transit is currently providing.

Cuts:
1. Cut 29 to Square One, then backtrack to Guelph.

Additions to the west:
1. Brantford-Square One, with a Brantford train shuttle to Aldershot. Both branches can have a stop at Paris too.
2. Waterloo-Kitchener-Cambridge-Hamilton
3. Brantford-Cambridge-Guelph
4. Extending 31 or 48 to Kitchener-Waterloo
5. Guelph-Aberfoyle-Alershot and/or Hamilton

Additions to the east:
1. Lindsay-Oshawa
2. Cobourg-Port Hope-Oshawa

Additions to the north:
1. Barrie-Wasaga Beach-Collingwood-Blue Mountain
2. Barrie-Orillia (with some trips to Casino Rama)
3. Barrie-Midland-Penetanguishine

Within the GTA:
- let me think about it for later. :D
 
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andrewpmk said:
How many people seriously want to go from Port Credit to Kitchener? If the problem is that the fares for GO bus users transferring to other systems are too high, then GO should start applying the 65 cent co fare program to GO bus users using the Presto card, which really ought to be done anyway. Running GO buses between Port Credit and Cooksville/Square One, which will undoubtedly be mostly empty because most of the demand there is local demand and MT fares are lower, is a waste of money.
Click to expand...

To answer your question, very few, however, Port Credit is an important interchange point for the Lakeshore corridor and the train can get people into downtown and points between quicker than the Gardiner on most days. I know many people including myself who will take the GO bus in and out of Toronto because they have a bike and don't want to pay TTC fare, they like their bust to leave at a specific time, and they just generally hate the experience of Greyhound. People will use the service if they have an hourly (or less) train to connect to, and buses should be timed to facilitate these transfers.

Granted, a Highway 6 GO bus may do a better job at achieving this goal of funnelling people onto the Lakeshore GO corridor, but I think your are underestimating the demand for a shuttle service between Square One (a major mobility hub and route terminus) and the Port Credit GO station (an important transfer hub).
 
Am I alone in feeling that the current Waterloo-Kitchener bus should be going to Union Station? The transfer at Square one isn't so bad, but it's still a transfer that you have to plan your departure from Union Station around. Am I missing something that would make this trip simpler or is there just not the demand?
 
bartekci said:
Am I alone in feeling that the current Waterloo-Kitchener bus should be going to Union Station? The transfer at Square one isn't so bad, but it's still a transfer that you have to plan your departure from Union Station around. Am I missing something that would make this trip simpler or is there just not the demand?
Click to expand...

Union-Square One is definitely way busier than the Waterloo bus. If it Waterloo gets extended to Union, it will be too long, which makes a little too unreliable. Plus, Square One is one of GO Transit's hubs anyway, plus Peel Region is surprisingly the biggest destination of K-W commuters, not Toronto.

What I want for Union-Square One bus is to run earlier and more frequently. Same thing goes for 25 and 29 to be attractive to reverse commuters. Currently, 25 is at its infancy stage so I'm not expecting a service increase for a significant period of time.
 
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