When the TTC announced that fares might be going up, management limited token sales in an attempt to stem hoarders. By purchasing tokens now, 25-cents is saved each ride if the token is used in the new year. Because so many people were taking advantage of this, the taps were turned off. Laurence begs to differ on this logic, but the truth is that if you want to purchase fares in advance you have to purchase temporary adult tickets. When 2010 rolls around and fares go up, these tickets will only be accepted with a 25-cent top-up.

About the same time this was happening, the Presto smart fare card was being field tested ahead of a full roll-out over the next year. Presto could have made this fare increase more manageable, but mass media details on how it will work for the rider have been slim. Many of the questions being raised have already been answered, but the information isn’t really getting out to the public. So, here’s some reflections on what Presto can do for the riders in the GTHA. (more…)

No, it wasn’t an elaborate April Fools Day joke…

On April 1st, the Government of Ontario announced funding a collection of transit projects across the GTHA. While many of the projects are in the central parts of the region, and there has been some criticism of this fact, these are the projects that are closest groundbreaking – some will see construction start next year. We can’t forget that we need to build a region-wide network, but we need to start somewhere.

Here’s what was announced: (more…)

Toronto has the only existing street railway/"light rail" gauge in Ontario.

Track gauge is a finer detail in the technology of rail-based transportation.  It is defined as the distance between the inside edges of the heads of the running rails.  It’s an important detail since this decides the distance between wheels on the trucks/bogies of rail cars, which can impact what systems on which said rail cars can and cannot run.

What makes this topic interesting in Toronto and the GTA is that the TTC has its own unique gauge: 1495mm.  This applies to both the streetcar and the subway networks of the TTC, but excludes the SRT (which is currently standard gauge. However, if the SRT is converted to LRT, as is widely expected, it would be changed to TTC gauge).  The TTC is expected to apply their unique gauge to Transit City as well, as it keeps the system flexible and has maintenance efficiencies.

Standard gauge, however, is 1435mm, and is used by the freight railways, which would include GO Transit’s rail fleet.  If one goes back in Toronto’s history, one will find two streetcar companies operating on Toronto’s streets, one at standard gauge and the other at the TTC’s, a result of meeting a legal requirement at the time.

There are now many communities in Ontario talking about LRT in their future networks.  These include not only Toronto, but also Hamilton, York Region, Region of Peel, Kitchener-Waterloo, Ottawa, and even London. (more…)

Grade separation west of Union station

The GTHA has an interesting railway network when one includes the rail lines that are not serviced by GO Transit.  It also holds a huge amount of potential if its integration can be exploited to commuter operations’ advantage.

CONNECTING THE DOTS

Already built are a number of connections that can be of significant value to the region’s passenger rail movements.  An interlining GO service on the railways can be extremely useful in both getting more people onto the network, and also at alleviating the stress Union Station could be at significant risk of facing in the future, particularly in a fare-integrated network.

Consider the following connections that already exist in the network that can be used for future service (italics indicate locations not yet serviced by GO):

Oakville – Long Branch – Kipling - North Toronto – Agincourt (CP) - Malvern – Seaton
Existing tracks and junctions

Meadowvale – Kipling - North Toronto - Agincourt (CP) - Malvern – Seaton 
Existing tracks and junctions

Brampton – Weston – North Toronto – Agincourt (CP) - Malvern – Seaton
Existing tracks and junctions

Bolton – Weston (CP) - North Toronto – Agincourt (CP) - Malvern – Seaton
Existing tracks and junctions

Oakville – Union – Agincourt (CP) – Seaton/Locust Hill
Existing tracks and junctions

Pickering – Union - Newmarket
Existing tracks and junctions, and has been run in the past (unofficially… call it “the inside track”)

Oakville – Long Branch - Kipling – Weston – Pearson
Existing tracks and junctions except for Pearson spur

The connectivity of the network is somewhat lopsided in the west end’s favour as the connections between CP and CN lines are generally absent on the east side apart from the CP Belleville Don Branch, but exist at the West Toronto Junction (omni-directional except for north-to-east/west-to-south, which is useless anyway) and at Kipling (uni-directional (NE/SW only)), key points in the west end, allowing all current westbound (Hamilton/Milton/Georgetown) GO corridors to run into the CP North Toronto sub, and would also include Bolton service (which is a CP line anyway, the MacTier sub).

Some of the points after the jump were discussed at one of the earlier meetings hosted by Ed Drass at Metro Hall. (more…)

Barrie and Richmond Hill GO Lines

This is the final entry in the “Where do we GO?” series, as all directions from Union Station will now be covered (West and East sides were covered previously).  This post focuses on the remaining corridors of Richmond Hill and Barrie.  As promised, there’s a lot of comment on these two corridors.

BARRIE LINE

Recently extended from Bradford to restore service to Barrie (and the corridor renamed as a result), this corridor has a lot of unserviced pockets compared to other corridors, despite having more stations already added to it than other corridors in the network except Stouffville (with which it is a tie).  Long a poor performer in the network, GO Transit has been very keen on making this corridor prove its worth.  (more…)

East of Scarborough GO Station

In a previous post, the topic was about where GO Transit could add stations to its westbound train lines to increase the value and performance of the existing service area, something that should probably be done before extensions of lines takes place.  Now in this post, the same question is posed towards its eastbound lines; the Stouffville and Lakeshore East corridors. (more…)

With the Metrolinx draft RTP out, lots of improvements to GO Train services are all over the map, including extensions, new lines, and express service improvements.  Such improvements are welcome, but as important are improvements to service along existing lines.  With the exceptions of Barrie and Lincolnville, GO Transit has been focused on adding stations to their existing lines instead of expanding to new lines or extending existing lines; Rutherford, East Gwillimbury, York University, Centennial, Mount Joy, Mount Pleasant, Lisgar, and Kennedy are all recent additions to the existing GO network, without extending the lines.  This focus that GO Transit has diligently been exercising over the last decade is a practice that should not be abandoned.  Creating a denser built-up region through adding stations to existing lines to provide greater service coverage within the current network is a strong tool against sprawl and its impacts, as GO service is attractive when it’s running.  Imagine if it ran frequently throughout the day.

In the case of the TTC with the Portlands, there is an expensive investment being made for brand new TOD neighbourhoods, as new infrastructure and entire communities are built from scratch.  This is necessary in an age where we are trying to create environments that are not dependent on the automobile.

GO Transit has the advantage of holding the opportunity of accomplishing similar for a comparatively low investment, as its lines are existing.  It’s not pennies, but it’s not a fortune either, and this is the psychology behind GO Transit’s original service concept in the first place… it’s also why they don’t own the tracks on most lines, but nevermind that (with any luck, that will partially change).

Transit has a lot of catching up to do in restoring mode competitiveness, which has been monopolized by the auto through the expressway network and the decommissioning of several rail lines around the region, of which Barrie was almost a victim.  This greatly hampers the ability to compete with the door-to-door advantage held by the auto.

(more…)

For English-speaking North Americans, the 24-hour clock is something often met with a certain amount of disdain and perhaps a feeling that somebody with too much time is making things more difficult for them than need be.  Most would never dream of referring to the time of day in 24-hour time and even those who can figure it out relatively easy are often counting back 12 hours on their fingers to figure out what time it “really” is.  However, the 24-hour clock is actually the more “normal” measure of time as the majority of the world uses it.  While there are a few industrialized countries where people still do not use it much (i.e. United Kingdom), it tends to be just English-Canada and the U.S. where many people do not seem to know how to use it at all.

Yet there is one great exception and that would be when we making travel arrangements.    While it is often referred to as “military time” it is also popularly known as “train time” and is pretty much the standard when booking plane and train tickets, even with many North American carriers.  While the 24-hour system has been used for centuries, primarily by those in the sciences, it is also the standard in the military, the film industry and, as mentioned, on the railroads as round-the-clock industries require a timing system that has no room for ambiguity.

(more…)

“Maybe now I can put real meat in the meatloaf…”

Those commercials are lame at best, but the underlying message is true. A post-secondary education in Ontario is very expensive, and many struggle to pay for tuition and textbooks in addition to the cost of living in the city. With this in mind, it comes as no surprise that there have been loud calls to make public transit more affordable for students attending post-secondary education across the GTHA, throughout Ontario and across Canada.

In general, only grade-school and secondary school students are entitled to use student tickets and passes. In response, several universities and colleges have negotiated discounted transit passes with the TTC and with GO Transit. At eligible schools, students can receive a discount on GO monthly and ten-ride passes, and many institutions in Toronto sell discounted Metropasses though the TTC’s Volume Incentive Program (VIP). But, while all offer a tangible benefit to users, there are some drawbacks to both programs. (more…)