[11th]

It seems like there are major service cuts across the majority of the bus network. Is it something that we are expecting due to the spring semester approaching? 94 is just one example which I routinely use to head to the airport from North York, and I would have thought the summer travel season would call for more service to the airport. Are they redeploying the buses to some other routes?

View attachment 556707
94 current schedule

View attachment 556706
94 new schedule

That and the Pearson-Richmond Hill Centre route actually could use an additional trip between the 12am and 2am trips. A lot of flights arrive around the midnight hours. Passengers coming from those flights very likely would just miss the 12am trip and have to wait nearly 2 hours for the next one. A 20min journey home easily becomes 2hr+.

 

[ey2470]

I wonder if it has something to do with the train service expansion. If it was one or two routes I wouldn't, but considering how many routes are affected all at once, it seems a little too convenient. Robbing Peter to pay Paul?

I think you are right. They have addressed my concern here, probably we should expect a slew of go train disruptions where they will run replacement buses.

Still doesn't explain why late night services to the airport have to be cut.

"if your trip is affected, please wait for the next available trip" I rather they just leave that out lmao

 

[Achemarci]

The ridership on those trains is approximately the same as it was 22 years ago.

It's not rocket appliances.

Dan

The Milton line has less trains than in 1990 yet we are supposed to believe demand is lower today than 34 years ago? Come on...

 

[Dan416]

The Milton line has less trains than in 1990 yet we are supposed to believe demand is lower today than 34 years ago? Come on...

I don't think the demand is the problem. Look at the Lakeshore and Kitchener lines. If you add service, ridership follows. Milton would do well if it had two-way all-day service.

 

[Krypto98]

I was messing around with Google maps. I wanted to see what was the best route for transit to get to work. I live in Oakville and work in Brampton. I always drive to work, never taken transit.

I've come to the conclusion that it only makes sense for me to take transit if I drive to the Trafalgar road, 407 park & ride and grab the 47 GO bus. If I park at the Oakville GO station (which is closer to where I live) I have to get on the 21A GO bus and transfer at the Trafalgar, 407 park & ride. Seems unnecessarily pointless to take a bus that adds roughly 20 minutes to my travel time just to get me up Trafalgar Rd. Plus by parking at the 407 park & ride I get to bypass Sheridan College.

The 47 GO bus essentially travels along the same route I take to work in my car. 403 > 410 > Steeles Rd. > Airport rd. I drive past Bramalea GO station almost everyday, unless I decide to take QEW > 427 to work.

Nearly 6 years I've worked at my job, I've always driven to work. Never taken transit. Never considered the GO buses until recently. I'm going to try this out sometime soon.

View attachment 556103View attachment 556106

I would love to take transit to my work but the 24/7 spareboard on call with 2 hours notice makes it virtually impossible to take transit

 

[Metroscapes]

As you'd expect, folks in Weston are unhappy with Union Pearson Express² and the NDP are on the bullhorn about it.

UP Express riders upset over coming service cuts to city stops

Stops at Bloor station (at Dundas St. W.) and Weston station will go from every 15 minutes to every half-hour.

www.thestar.com

 

[reaperexpress]

As you'd expect, folks in Weston are unhappy with Union Pearson Express² and the NDP are on the bullhorn about it.

UP Express riders upset over coming service cuts to city stops

Stops at Bloor station (at Dundas St. W.) and Weston station will go from every 15 minutes to every half-hour.

www.thestar.com

Also as expected, the Start "forgets" to mention that GO service to Weston and Bloor is being doubled at the same time during weekday off-peak periods. I'm in no way in favour of the change to the UP Express service pattern (the time savings are too small to be worthwhile) but that doesn't mean I'm okay with deceptive reporting.

On a different note, there's a telling quote in there:

“For many of us, the UP Express is not just a mode of travel but a lifeline — a means to reach downtown Toronto swiftly and reliably,” reads the petition by Fuller, 34, who said in an interview that she and her husband moved to the neighbourhood, in part, because of the UP.

Note that they are treating the UP Express just as a commuter train to downtown, not the airport.

But the UP Express is simply not well suited for suburb-to-downtown commutes because the trains are too small. It also doesnt make sense for people riding the so-called express train from the airport need to stop and pick up people who have nothing to do with the airport. For both of those reasons, travel from Weston to downtown is best served by Kitchener line local services, not UP Express.

There's still no sign of new timetables on the UP Express website, but my guess is that they'll keep the departures from Union the same and stagger the Pearson end, since Union is the end where travellers have more control about when they arrive at the station. In which case the departures from Union each hour would be:

x:00 UP Express express
x:04 Kitchener local
x:15 UP Express local
x 30 UP Express express
x:34 Kitchener local
x:45 UP Express local

So off-peak the effect for travellers from Weston and Bloor to Union is that instead of having a train every 15 minutes evenly, they now have a headway that alternates between 11 and 19 minutes. The main impact is on weekends and counter-peak when Kitchener line service is only hourly, in which case they are indeed dropping effectively from 15-minute service to 30-minute service. Introducing 30-minute local service on weekends as well should be a top priority, not only for the sake of Weston passengers but also to disperse the demand for the ridiculously busy transfer to Route 30 (Kitchener Express) in Bramalea.

 

[Islington Express Bus]

Isn't it only being doubled in weekday off-peak times?

 

[ShonTron]

Also as expected, the Start "forgets" to mention that GO service to Weston and Bloor is being doubled at the same time.

It’s not, though. It’s only weekday midday and evening. Not weekends, not during peak hours.

 

[reaperexpress]

It’s not, though. It’s only weekday midday and evening. Not weekends, not during peak hours.

It is very relevant to the story that the GO service during weekday off-peak periods is being doubled at the same time that the UP Express service is being cut in half. Service during peak periods (peak direction) is already frequent enough that alternating with UP every half hour still provides roughly 15-minute service to Weston and Bloor. Weekends are indeed an issue.

 

[Northern Light]

Re the above, do we have a number for how many people are boarding UPX at the locations in question to get to the airport, presumably for work?

If the number is small, c'est la vie, but if a large number of staff of the airport / airlines are using the service out of Bloor or Weston then then I could see them being right irritated by the cuts. For the airport bound, GO is not a substitute.

 

[ShonTron]

It is very relevant to the story that the GO service during weekday off-peak periods is being doubled at the same time that the UP Express service is being cut in half. Service during peak periods (peak direction) is already frequent enough that alternating with UP every half hour still provides roughly 15-minute service to Weston and Bloor. Weekends are indeed an issue.

But counter-peak service (to/from Bramalea) is also only every hour too.

 

[reaperexpress]

Re the above, do we have a number for how many people are boarding UPX at the locations in question to get to the airport, presumably for work?

If the number is small, c'est la vie, but if a large number of staff of the airport / airlines are using the service out of Bloor or Weston then then I could see them being right irritated by the cuts. For the airport bound, GO is not a substitute.

Indeed, the metric for service to Weston should be its use to get to the airport (not only for travel but also for work). From what I've seen there are very few boardings toward the airport at Weston, it's almost entirely to/from Union.

Once Mount Dennis opens, I think it would be best to just drop Weston from the UP Express and run all trains with the same stopping pattern: Union, Bloor, Mount Dennis, Pearson. Mount Dennis serves roughly the same area but unlike Weston it's very useful for people travelling to/from the airport due to its connection to Line 5.

But counter-peak service (to/from Bramalea) is also only every hour too.

Yes and I said that in both of my previous posts.

 

[smallspy]

Very interesting but unfortunate. Is there a way to remove the speed restriction or is this something non-negotiable imposed by Transport Canada?

It is entirely done by Metrolinx. Transport Canada has no problems with the equipment or platforms, and has not imposed any restrictions on either.

The Milton line has less trains than in 1990 yet we are supposed to believe demand is lower today than 34 years ago? Come on...

GO has a window of time in which they can operate as many trains as they want on the Milton Corridor. That's why they had 10 or 11 trains running as frequently as every 10 minutes just before COVID. If the ridership was there they would return to that schedule.

Ridership has not returned evenly across the system, and peak-period riding is down pretty substantially on a couple of the lines. Milton and Richmond Hill are the two most notable ones.

Dan

 

[nfitz]

If there was a times saving, cutting UPE stops would make sense. But really - 2 minutes?

This isn't about speed. This is about trains being so over-crowded at times with commuters, that people travelling to the airport can't get on and have to wait.

The obvious immediate solution is pricing changes, especially for Weston and Bloor to Union trips.