[smallspy]

Would level platforms mean the current platforms are completely ripped out and rebuilt?

Probably not necessarily, but the likelihood is that they would.

Dan
Toronto, Ont.

 

[Megaton327]

I'd say instead of building massive parking garages you may be able to attract more ridership, and encourage less automobile use by just making the aforementioned stations to the current AD2W lines, i.e. bring them up to a similar level as Bloor/Weston UP. Current GO stations are perhaps the least inviting things I could ever imagine.

Where would those riders park? Suburban GO commuters overwhelmingly drive to and park at their stations. You can add as much service as you want but with no parking, there won't be much ridership. I would know, here at Aurora GO with the new hourly service I'm still driving downtown most of the time because there's nowhere for me to park. I would love nothing more than to use the trains but I've tried several times and almost missed a meeting because I couldn't find parking and had to drive downtown unplanned...now I just don't bother and drive, except for weekends.

 

[crs1026]

Where would those riders park? Suburban GO commuters overwhelmingly drive to and park at their stations. You can add as much service as you want but with no parking, there won't be much ridership. I would know, here at Aurora GO with the new hourly service I'm still driving downtown most of the time because there's nowhere for me to park. I would love nothing more than to use the trains but I've tried several times and almost missed a meeting because I couldn't find parking and had to drive downtown unplanned...now I just don't bother and drive, except for weekends.

The Aurora line is crying for better feeder transit, with deeper penetration into neighbourhoods up that way. The regular transit grid is just not effective at getting people to the GO.

- Paul

 

[ShonTron]

GO are thinking of level platforms so, if they are serious about able this, it would not mkje sense to do significant work on current platforms. Of coure, some minir upkeep would be good
,

Has a certain transit fan from East York hijacked your account, @DSC?

 

[DSC]

Has a certain transit fan from East York hijacked your account, @DSC?

Cruel! I had actually intended to edit the typos a bit earlier but …...

 

[TOareaFan]

Where would those riders park? Suburban GO commuters overwhelmingly drive to and park at their stations. You can add as much service as you want but with no parking, there won't be much ridership. I would know, here at Aurora GO with the new hourly service I'm still driving downtown most of the time because there's nowhere for me to park. I would love nothing more than to use the trains but I've tried several times and almost missed a meeting because I couldn't find parking and had to drive downtown unplanned...now I just don't bother and drive, except for weekends.

As someone else noted, transit to and from the station is needed....in the meantime, is there no reserved parking at Aurora?

 

[Woodbridge_Heights]

Bloomington go should pull a lot of those vehicles out of the aurora go parking garage. I think i read somewhere that a significant proprtion of park and riders at aurora go come from outside aurora's borders.

Be that as it may. Aurora is an example of what should be core community station. One with limited if any parking but strong integration into the surrounding community and strong bus connections. Leaving park and ride peak demand to stations on the fringes which can be built to accomodate larger volumes of vehicles, as with bloomington.

 

[smallspy]

....in the meantime, is there no reserved parking at Aurora?

There are reserved spots there. The bigger issue is that many stations have waiting lists to get a reserved spot, and Aurora may very well be one of those.

Dan
Toronto, Ont.

 

[TOareaFan]

There are reserved spots there. The bigger issue is that many stations have waiting lists to get a reserved spot, and Aurora may very well be one of those.

Dan
Toronto, Ont.

I guess that is sorta what I meant...."are there no available reserved spots"...thanks for catching the omission.

That said, what is the limit on number (or, more likely, percentage of total spots) that GO implements for reserving spots.......if limit is any less than 90% of total spots then that needs to be looked at.

there may, indeed, be reserved parking available at Aurora as it gets a special mention in the how to reserve parking spots area of the web page.

 

[mdrejhon]

They add reserved signs based on demand.

If 10 new drivers pay for reserved spots, the GO staff actually visits the stations and installs additional "Reserved" signage. That's what happens. There is no limit or cap at the moment -- some GO stations (e.g. Long Branch) have become almost entirely Reserved through this process.

If there are no reserved parking spots, you can pay to reserve anyway. They'll come and install the first "Reserved" sign because of your call.

That has happened before... Once a parking lot becomes full for the first-ever times, the first calls to reserve come in, and -- bingo -- first Reserved signs arrive.

Better promoting of this feature could help prevent building new garages -- such as "Tap Your Presto to sign up for a Reseserved Parking Spot This Month!" or other features that make it super easy for drivers to spontaneously obtain reserved parking spots and convert parking lots into defacto paid parking lots faster -- and cut GO fares quicker (e.g. $3 GO fares for those who do not bring a car).

And better promoting of transit interchange opportunities ("Don't want to pay for parking? This GO station is also served by [Gotham Transit #404 #777] [Kiss-N-Ride] [Uber] [Carpool Recruitment Network] [Cycle Network]")

Even cheap simple steps can be accomplished initially. 2 meter tall by 1 meter wide, full color signs mounted in standard placements. Simply to advertise things like "Want a parking spot reserved just for your car? Book one today! gotransit.ca/reserve" + alternate connections (transit routes, carpool signup services, ridehail, GO buses, etc) .... The extra revenues from paid reservations will more than pay for signage.

Or these signs mounted on top of movable blocks at the back of spare unused reserved spots -- and allow drivers to book those parking spots the same-day on the spot (drive in, use smartphone to pay for spot for the whole month, done. Now a GO employee will put a "RESERVED" on that specific spot during the day before you return home from your commute). Make it as easy as possible to reserve parking spots. Reduce the cost for people who do not bring cars.

This may be a useful transitionary technique before the era of fully-paid-GO-parking.

 

[TransitBart]

Is a garage or lot expansion in the cards?

 

[drum118]

Is a garage or lot expansion in the cards?

If I remember correctly, you will need a parking structure there, like most stations these days. Since you are dealing with urban low density sprawl, very hard to put in a transit system or beef one up that could provide the needed service to meet riders demand.

Then, why should someone haft to stand on a bus with no empty seat when one can drive freely to/from a station and not worry about the standing in the weather or dealing with other riders.

 

[crs1026]

^Aurora already has a large multi-story parking garage. Sure, one could build a second, but..... by the same logic, there should be a parking garage at Pape station so people can bring their car to the DRL.

At some point we have to get ahead of this and bring the transit to these neighbourhoods, low density or not. There are vehicle choices beyond 45-foot city buses. And we need to get away from planning bus routes on the assumption that there must be standees, as if it’s Dufferin at rush hour.

- Paul

 

[SaugeenJunction]

Some shots of the GO Whitby Maintenance Facility. I was amazed how big it is, and there is tons of room for future train storage expansion. Looks like it will be ready soon. If I recall correctly, there are some LSW service reductions soon for switch installation and signal mast installations (saw a bunch on the ground prepped for installation).

 

[TOareaFan]

......Since you are dealing with urban low density sprawl, very hard to put in a transit system or beef one up that could provide the needed service to meet riders demand.
Then, why should someone haft to stand on a bus with no empty seat when one can drive freely to/from a station and not worry about the standing in the weather or dealing with other riders.

I don't understand what you are saying here.....on the one hand you seem to be saying the sprawly nature of the area would not support a bus system....then you are saying the rider would be dealing with overcrowded buses with standing room only.......aren't those mutually exclusive statements?....or am I missing your point?