I don't think previous GO riders are taking a pass on the service because they don't know it exists, they are taking a pass because the current service is abysmal; and because they may still have some concerns around Covid and/or are spending less time commuting in general.
I was surprised by the claim that people don’t generally know what GO’s service offering is. My impression is that most people in the LSE-LSW catchment know quite well that GO offers all-day service on this line. If they don’t use it themselves, they are in the habit of picking up or dropping off friends and family at the GO at all hours of the day, And perhaps using themselves on special occasions, such as their annual trip to the CNE or to see the Jays. And a great many who are closer to other GO lines eg Milton Kitchener may drive to Aldershot or Oakville because they are confident that there is all day service on that line whereas their own line is peak only.
For LSE-LSW, the ability to arrive and board without looking up the train times is undoubtedly a selling feature, but even at current headways there a lot of people who don’t mind the wait…. at 30 minutes, anyways.
I do recall a point earlier in the pandemic where things had started to open up, but evening LSW service out of downtown was nominally hourly but after the shows/concerts ended was effectively a 90 minute wait. Similarly, service after the first Jays game I attended at the start of this year’s season was substandard. But overall we are back to the old normal, even if we aren’t at 15 minute headways yet. This service can be constructively promoted as what it is.
The situation on GO’s other supposedly all day lines is quite the reverse. The problem is that with ongoing construction, GO is not yet in a position to deliver a proper, consistent, uniform, 7 day all-day service envelope. This is regrettable, but we need the shovels to finish their work before GO can deliver.
I absolutely agree that GO should be promoting the service it is offering today, and not the service it may be offering some years out. Talking about what you are building puts the impression in peoples’ minds that nothing is there yet, so they assume there is no point in riding today. ML loves to self-aggrandize over the future, but this is costing them riders (and people are a lot smarter about ignoring puffery than ML thinks).
There is a pattern of hourly trains today on three routes that is mostly useful and can be marketed productively, if GO would stop selling the dinner steak and talk about what’s on the table for lunch.
Lastly, the focus heeds to be on all day service offering and not worry about peak. Peak ridership will return when the necessity of commuting for employment or education builds. GO should manage peak train lengths and headways to demonstrate that seats are available, but this is not the growth market.
- Paul
