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GO Transit’s Hamilton ridership statistics still shifting post-pandemic

GO transit’s ridership statistics still shifting post-pandemic
www.thespec.com www.thespec.com

GO [T]ransit’s Hamilton ridership statistics still shifting post-pandemic​

Increase in West Harbour GO trains have resulted in boon for terminal
Sept. 7, 2024



West Harbour GO

West Harbour GO has nearly eight times the number of riders than in 2019 following schedule change.
The Hamilton Spectator file photo

By Kate McCullough Reporter

Nearly eight times the number of people use West Harbour GO Station than five years ago, Metrolinx says.

Currently, an average of 886 people a day board and disembark trains at the North End terminal, compared with just 93 in 2019.

The steep increase is largely due to a schedule change five years ago, in which the transportation company more than doubled service at its newest station.

Before September 2019, the west harbour saw just eight trips — four each eastbound and westbound — per day, spokesperson Andrea Ernesaks said in an email.

Now, there are 40 trips daily out of the station, 20 in each direction.

Meanwhile, the area’s two other stations continue to recover from pandemic losses.

Ridership at all local stations plummeted when the COVID-19 pandemic hit, as thousands of riders stopped commuting when workplaces and class shifted online.

“The transit landscape has undergone a significant transformation post-pandemic, and we have worked to adapt to these evolving patterns,” Ernesaks.

The number of riders dropped from 93 in 2019 to 70 in 2020 at West Harbour, from 818 to 225 at Hamilton GO Centre and from 2,497 to 698 at Aldershot GO in Burlington.

West Harbour GO service was cancelled altogether for a period during the pandemic, while GO Centre continued to operated with limited service.

[Hamilton] Centre and Aldershot remain below pre-pandemic levels, averaging 2,284 and 600, respectively, in 2024.

There was no change to GO Centre’s regular schedule between 2019 and 2024, with four morning and four evening trips.

Changes to “traditional peak-time” and work-related travel — specifically a shift from the conventional five-day work week to two or three — have affected ridership trends, Ernesaks said.
She also said GO services continue to recoup lost riders.

Reinstating services on some corridors, increased weekend “leisure” travel, and growing demand from youth and post-secondary students are among the contributing factors.

“Metrolinx continues to see ridership recovery gains following the pandemic,” Ernesaks said.
Click to expand...
 
Thread from augustAP12 on Twitter.
  • daily ridership on GO train has surpassed 200k, and is on track to break the late 2019 stat of 230k trips/day it is by far the fastest recovering major commuter rail system between the US/[C]anada, and a lot of that is from moving away from the "commuter" rail model /1
  • the introduction of a minimum all-day hourly service on 5/7 lines, 15-min weekend service on the 2 lakeshore lines, 30-min service on the kitchener line and fare integration between GO, the TTC and almost every other agency in the urban area has caused ridership to surge /2
  • the lesson is pretty clear - increase service so a more diverse number of non-commuter trips can be met, refocus on bus connections+TOD rather than park-and-rides, and knock down the fare barriers incurred when transferring between buses+subways to regional trains /3
  • Boston's [MTBA] commuter rail has also made a higher performing recovery than its US peers, now approaching its prepandemic ridership - and the formula is much the same - add more service in the off-peak, including transformative 30-minute all-day service on the fairmount line /4

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The gulf between GO and every other North American system outside of NYC is remarkable. Like, SEPTA is a big system serving a big city, and it's just nowhere even close.

And overtaking Metro-North and NJ Transit looks very possible for GO in the near term.

I guess the behemoth that is the LIRR will remain number-one for the foreseeable future.
 
And is there another jurisdiction that has seen the amount of rezoning and TOD construction at many stations?!
 
It seems extremely obvious to me that GO would have the greatest room for upward growth as there is a clear opportunity for tapping into new ridership markets by expanding service offerings, as well as the insanely high TOD development surrounding each GO Station. The skylines of our regional subcentres are beginning to mirror that of smaller American mid-size cities.

rdaner said:
And is there another jurisdiction that has seen the amount of rezoning and TOD construction at many stations?!
Click to expand...

Montreal lol. The REM network is doing the same thing with it's developer and major property owner, CDPQ/Ivanhoe Cambridge, leading high density development surrounding each station.

Shame that the REM's numbers weren't on the graphics above.

According to this (https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/shorter-rem-trains-1.7178927), REM is doing 24,000 daily riders:

"CDPQ Infra spokesperson Francis Labbé said a normal week on the REM sees an average of 24,000 daily users, most taking the electric train Monday to Friday.​
​
While weekdays can see up to 36,000 riders, he said weekend ridership is "way less than that.":​
 
Montreal's REM is not a commuter rail line and thus wasn't included. It's converting a commuter rail line to a metro.

REM's construction has also decimated EXO's ridership as it shut down it's busiest commuter rail line. EXO's ridership has fallen off a cliff in the last 5 years as a result, but for good reason.
 
Normally I would stick this in TTC other items, but this seems as apt a thread as any.........

From the latest CEO report to the next meeting of the TTC:

1732645349614.png


I disagree w/that last bit........... crowding is severe in rush hour on Line 1.......and Line 2
 
allabootmatt said:
The gulf between GO and every other North American system outside of NYC is remarkable. Like, SEPTA is a big system serving a big city, and it's just nowhere even close.

And overtaking Metro-North and NJ Transit looks very possible for GO in the near term.

I guess the behemoth that is the LIRR will remain number-one for the foreseeable future.
Click to expand...
Short of spewing all the ridership GO Expansion will bring…

The gap between GO and the LIRR is as small as it’s ever been- hardly a behemoth anymore. Unless something changes, an overtake could occur by this time next year.

…That is all but certain if the crosstown opens by then. The sheer ridership it will funnel onto GO is incomparable with any American system, no GO-EX necessary. There is so much more local transit ridership today, that the moment we (deliberately) cross these modes, it’s game over for any competitor.

….It’s time to start looking across the pond.
 
innsertnamehere said:
REM's construction has also decimated EXO's ridership as it shut down it's busiest commuter rail line. EXO's ridership has fallen off a cliff in the last 5 years as a result, but for good reason.
Click to expand...
There's only one EXO line that's impacted by construction (and it's certainly been impacted the most). Arguably one other may have been influenced by the opening of the first part of the REM itself.

There's no excuse for the other EXO lines which are also severely impacted.
 
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