[PL1]

Not just since covid.

Organized crime groups target debtors to participate in car theft, police say

Investigators’ description of the scheme comes in the wake of a major police crackdown in Windsor, Ont., where police recovered more than 130 stolen vehicles

www.theglobeandmail.com

"Between 2014 and 2021, the OPP says there was a 72 per cent increase in vehicle thefts across the province. In 2022, they saw another 14 per cent jump. And after just the first six months of this year, they were already closing in on last year’s total."

These are thefts, not carjackings. Still not good, but without the violence

 

[anb]

RIP anyone who was at Weston or Bloor trying to go anywhere other than the airport... Especially since the 22:34 is the last train of the day

If only GO wasn’t allergic to servicing Toronto locations aside from their own bus terminals at Union/Yorkdale/Finch etc, then this could’ve easily been solved by running a shuttle bus starting from Weston and allowing riders from Bloor to ride free on UPX to this stop, or better yet run an extra train to Bramalea and shuttle bus from there (we know you can clearly also do that now ML stop playing ).

There needs to be a better way at doing this especially for the Guelph and Kitchener bound travelers at Weston/Bloor who can’t get home using the train unless they do a ridiculous detour with the limited options they do have in this case using UPX to Union or struggle their way as fast as they can on the TTC to EN or Malton.

 

[reaperexpress]

If only GO wasn’t allergic to servicing Toronto locations aside from their own bus terminals at Union/Yorkdale/Finch etc, then this could’ve easily been solved by running a shuttle bus starting from Weston and allowing riders from Bloor to ride free on UPX to this stop, or better yet run an extra train to Bramalea and shuttle bus from there (we know you can clearly also do that now ML stop playing ).

There needs to be a better way at doing this especially for the Guelph and Kitchener bound travelers at Weston/Bloor who can’t get home using the train unless they do a ridiculous detour with the limited options they do have in this case using UPX to Union or struggle their way as fast as they can on the TTC to EN or Malton.

If someone was at Bloor or Weston trying to take the 21:44 to Acton or Guelph (scheduled to arrive Guelph at 23:01), then unless there was a shuttle bus, they had to take the UP Express back to Union and take the next bus to Guelph, which gets to Guelph at 02:36.

 

[Northern Light]

If someone was at Weston trying to take the 21:44 to Acton or Guelph (scheduled to arrive Guelph at 23:01), then unless there was a shuttle bus, they had to take the UP Express back to Union and take the next bus to Guelph, which gets to Guelph at 02:36.

View attachment 502001

Ahem..............someone...........read your PMs already, LOL

 

[Undead]

These are thefts, not carjackings. Still not good, but without the violence

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/car-jacking-investigations-toronto-1.6605842

"Kontos is just one of a rising number of people in Toronto who've been robbed this way. So far in 2022, there have been 182 carjackings, up from 102 last year, investigators with the Toronto police hold-up squad told a news conference on Tuesday."

 

[ShonTron]

Can we please keep this thread on topic?

 

[Admiral Beez]

How does a tourist or day tripper who wants to take his bicycle on a weekday onto the GoTrain have any chance of embarking if swarms of food delivery guys dominate the service?

 

[E•MO•TION]

The bike problem continues at all time high for the Kitchener Line.

View attachment 501984

What a gong show.

Now that one of the consists is yarding in London on a permanent basis, one of the 6-coach sets based in Kitchener has been lengthened to 12 coaches. This should hopefully provide some relief in the short term on 3935 and 3937.

 

[KevinT]

Doubtless true in small towns and such; but as someone who lives in a very middleclass, pretty safe area, I can tell you the neighbourhood social media groups are alive, almost daily with porch piracy complaints and camera feeds.

Same with my upper middle class area of Kitchener. And the delivery drivers always leave it right smack dab in the centre of the doorstep, easily visible from the street, despite the delivery instructions to tuck it behind the porch pillar. It's maddening...

What thread are we in again?

 

[anb]

How does a tourist or day tripper who wants to take his bicycle on a weekday onto the GoTrain have any chance of embarking if swarms of food delivery guys dominate the service?

Not sure how it is on the other lines, maybe LSW comes close behind as the problem lies mainly on the Kitchener Line.

Brampton seems to be the center of where most food delivery couriers on bikes originate from. Aside from the GO train, there aren’t any other options that come close to getting to Toronto efficiently, let alone carrying a huge number of bikes at once.

Other alternatives are taking the GO buses at BCC/Bramalea GO, Trinity Common, Mt Pleasant/DT Brampton, or taking Zum to TTC Line 1 or to Viscount and then the link train and UPX after. If that latter option were a lot more frequent and reliable and integrated with GO fares while also being cheaper than that could be a really good alternative to consider. Maybe if the fare integrated zone plan also included the UP it would end up being so.

 

[afransen]

I love when someone posts positive things about Europeans, like that Not Just Bikes guy, all Europeans live like that, (even though most people in the Netherlands don't even live like he says) but when you say something negative about them, then its only a minority.

The fetishization of Europe by the left here always makes me laugh. I'm loving how Therme, an austrian company is throwing a monkey wrench in all of that with Ontario Place.

I am of Dutch ancestry. You remind me of my brother in law who said to us "no one rides bikes anymore in Holland" when my parents would tell anecdotes about previous trips about how cycling works in NL. I went with my parents to NL for a week or so in 2019 and we laughed about how "no one rides bikes anymore" while looking at the bike barge in central Amsterdam with thousands of bikes on it, and all the people riding bikes as we checked out Delft where my father is from, beach resort at Hoek van Holland, etc.

Sure, some people in NL don't cycle, live in pretty rural more car oriented areas. There are some car brain people there too. But you really need to experience NL before you make claims that NJB is giving a misleading impression of how most Dutch people live. They ride bikes. A lot.

 

[drum118]

How does a tourist or day tripper who wants to take his bicycle on a weekday onto the GoTrain have any chance of embarking if swarms of food delivery guys dominate the service?

If one visit Europe, they will see how bikes are handle by RER trains that are shorter than our. Can't speak to the Kitchener Line since I don't use it in the first place to see first hand how many bikes are on those trains. How many bikes are we talking about??

One RER train we were on had flip down seats that were mostly up due to the rows of bikes plie in front of them as well backpackers equipment. I have no idea how ppl got their bike off these trains if they were getting off before the end of the trip, but a few had a hard time that they started to move(try) their bike 2-3 stations before getting off. One person we spoked to was heading to Hamburg and then would be cycling back to Stockholm and not a short trip considering it was a 10 hour train ride by HSR.

 

[drum118]

I am of Dutch ancestry. You remind me of my brother in law who said to us "no one rides bikes anymore in Holland" when my parents would tell anecdotes about previous trips about how cycling works in NL. I went with my parents to NL for a week or so in 2019 and we laughed about how "no one rides bikes anymore" while looking at the bike barge in central Amsterdam with thousands of bikes on it, and all the people riding bikes as we checked out Delft where my father is from, beach resort at Hoek van Holland, etc.

Sure, some people in NL don't cycle, live in pretty rural more car oriented areas. There are some car brain people there too. But you really need to experience NL before you make claims that NJB is giving a misleading impression of how most Dutch people live. They ride bikes. A lot.

In 2012, got off at a wrong station before Amsterdam and was blown away at the 1000's of bikes stock pile around the station. See the parking garage next to Amsterdam station for bikes only was something else as well the barges along the waterfront holding bikes only.

The other haft got to see parking garage in Amsterdam last year and she couldn't believe it as well the amount of cycles she was seeing. Must of the barges were removed on the waterfront to the rebuilding of of it.

Rotterdam didn't have many cycles like Amsterdam as well a number of other cities

 

[smallspy]

If one visit Europe, they will see how bikes are handle by RER trains that are shorter than our. Can't speak to the Kitchener Line since I don't use it in the first place to see first hand how many bikes are on those trains. How many bikes are we talking about??

One RER train we were on had flip down seats that were mostly up due to the rows of bikes plie in front of them as well backpackers equipment. I have no idea how ppl got their bike off these trains if they were getting off before the end of the trip, but a few had a hard time that they started to move(try) their bike 2-3 stations before getting off. One person we spoked to was heading to Hamburg and then would be cycling back to Stockholm and not a short trip considering it was a 10 hour train ride by HSR.

No system in Europe is being asked to handle hundreds of bikes on a single train.

That's what we're talking about here every night.

Dan

 

[Richard White]

No system in Europe is being asked to handle hundreds of bikes on a single train.

That's what we're talking about here every night.

Dan

Has any thought been given to a dedicated bike service? Something like a train dedicated for bikes only.