Rutherford GO Station

During the evening rush, a race plays out at every GO Transit train stop. Commuters preparing to exit the train line up at their cabin door, elbows out, sometimes a few stops before their own to get the front position. Then, the doors open and the race is on: ladies in heals and men in suits break into a full sprint for their car! They jump in, almost Dukes of Hazzard style, and peal the tires in an effort to beat the rush and save a few precious minutes exiting the parking lot. But can you blame them? Most GO stations are massive parking lots that contain too many cars to manage the traffic effectively.

GO Transit ridership is up, there’s no doubt about it.  I first took the GO train from Maple Station to Union Station about four years ago.  Back then there were three trains in the morning, and three returning in the evening, and I had no trouble finding a seat.  Now there are four trains each way, the line has been extended to Barrie, and extra cabins have been added, and it’s increasingly more difficult to get a seat in the morning.  Parking is at capacity.  In fact, cars park illegally at the nearby cemetery and line the road all the way to Major Mackenzie.

I think there exists a great opportunity at the local level to increase cycling, walking, and transit use to connect with a GO Transit trip.  Most people using the train probably live within 5 km of the station, but the overwhelming majority decide to get there by car.  By building stations that cater to cars, is GO Transit achieving it’s ultimate objective of getting people out of cars?

(more…)

Friday’s Globe and Mail featured a prediction by Jeffrey Rubin, the CIBC World Markets economist, that damage from Hurricane Gustav and other intense storms this season could cause a sudden spike in gas prices to $1.75 a litre.

Every time there is a price spike, the media runs to the local gas station to cover the “pain at the pumps”. But does that pain translate into a change in behaviour? How much of an impact do gas prices have on the commuting public in the GTA? Do increasing gas prices cause people to make different personal transportation decisions, or are households just absorbing the extra costs?

It appears that gas prices are affecting vehicle purchasing decisions (sorry GM), but are consumers switching from private vehicles to other modes of transportation? I would love to see the research on that. (Perhaps our friends at Metrolinx have some sources they can share? If readers know of recent research on this question, please leave a link in the comments.) [UPDATE: High gas costs pushing people to use public transit, survey finds, Globe & Mail]

Surely demographic factors influence gas price sensitivity and the substitution of one mode of transportation for another. It makes sense that household incomes will affect price sensitivity, with the working poor being hit hardest. At the same time, many service workers need to use private vehicles to get to or perform their work (i.e. not the GO train Bay Street crowd) and have few alternatives. This creates a political problem that will bring calls for action.

But I also believe that there is a relationship to another familiar demographic trend with political and policy implications: Boomer parents versus their Gen Y children.

(more…)

It seems as though the TTC may be reading your comments. At least halfway.

In the previous post about commuter lots, many of you remarked that instead of building more parking lots or investing time and money into parking, transit systems across the Greater Toronto Area should instead “provide viable alternates like well-served feeder bus routes” and more.

The TTC seems to be taking half your comments to heart: tomorrow’s Commission meeting will feature a vote on eliminating free parking perks to Metropass holders. Instead, Metropass holders would have to pay the daily parking fee — which can range from $2-6 — like everyone else.

It’s obvious that $6 is much cheaper than the surrounding lots that charge almost three times that amount, but I’d argue that the change won’t do much to eliminate the crowding that’s already happening at the lots. What it will do, I’m guessing, is increase the amount of cars driving in to the downtown core.

(more…)

This is the first in a series of observations, questions, interviews, opinions and answers about the human experience of using transit.

I grew up in the suburbs and couldn’t articulate why I disliked it. Then, in the middle of high school, I moved ‘downtown’ and couldn’t quite articulate why I loved it.

It’s having different destinations to visit. It’s getting around to different places. Transit is cheap and easy and I felt I had achieved a level of teenage urban independence.

After university, transit turned into an item of necessity. I was a commuter. Waiting for 2 minutes or 25 minutes – waiting was exhausting. Was it worse to have already paid subway fare and hear that there was a delay or emergency, or to calculate how many full trains I would let pass before I would squeeze into one and squeamishly smile at the unhappy commuters whose personal space I was invading.

There are positive transit experiences.

(more…)

It’s 8:03am and you’ve just pulled up across the street from the south parking lot at Kipling TTC Station after dropping off your wife at work in Brampton and your kids at the day care in Mississauga. The north lot is always full by 7:30am, but you’re banking on the south lot to still have some spots left.

It doesn’t; the lot has been full since 7:45am, and now you’re stuck driving into downtown Toronto for work. Again.

This isn’t an isolated incident: commuter parking lots (adjacent to GO and TTC stations) do not have enough space to accommodate the multitude of commuters that are looking to leave their cars and take public transit to work every day.

Recently, I got a few friends together to find out just how hard it is to get parking at transit hubs in and around Toronto. The results are sad, but expected:

• Kipling Station (GO, TTC): Lots full at 7:48am.
• Etobicoke North Station (GO): Lots full at 7:39am.
• Cooksville Station (GO): Lots full at 8:06am.
• Finch Station (GO, TTC): Lots full at 8:42am.

Cars that try and squeeze into the lots — particularly those that try and take up the spots occupied by snowbanks in the winter — are actively ticketed by the lot attendants, and privately-owned lots surrounding these commuter lots often charge in excess of $25 to park for the work day.

(more…)