Earth Week - Some ways Go Transit has made changes for the environmental worse

Go Transit public relations love to tell you how they are making things better for the environment but you don't really see how they are not.

The extension of Trains on the Lakeshore Line to Aldershot seems a good move on reducing the footprint on the environment but it also hurts it. If you listen closely to the campaign Go Transit has about parking, they mention alternative means of getting to the station. A lot of people relied on the Go Bus as an alternative to get to the station if they live between stops. Removing the once an hour bus during the day ensures those people drive to the station.

Recently, Go Transit removed bus routes from York region. This forced people to drive rather than take the slower local transit. http://www.yorkregion.com/news/article/627577--go-poised-to-cancel-local-bus-routes

These are only a few examples I found with a simple google. If you have more examples, please comment on this blog so Go Transit can see the ways they can change during this earth week.

Just what is the process for Go Transit to resolve customer issues?

Here is an example of a rightly frustrated customer:

We are very disappointed with the evidenced bad attitude of your bus driver for Go bus departing from Hamilton GO station, Ontario at 11 p.m. on 22 January 2010. The bus destination was Union Station in Toronto, Ontario.

The bus-driver was an apparently "middle-aged", tall, Caucasian-white male, clean-shaven, with a bald head [and a fringe of white hair on the back of his head].

In spite of our polite request for it, he did NOT assist us to load our bag at Hamilton, NOR did he even have the door opened for the luggage compartment until we asked him for it a FOURTH time, needlessly making us wait out in the cold weather.

When we reached Union station, he began YELLING at us IN FRONT of all other passengers SWEARING AND RUDELY demanding: "Why THE FUCK did you put your bag in the back?". We politely tried explaining to him that since there were other passengers BEHIND us with luggage AND OTHERS who may get onto the bus [since the bus may make multiple stops in Hamilton] AFTER it leaves the Hamilton GO station, we did not wish to inconvenience others NOR have them damage our fragile bag and it's fragile contents.

He shouted: "I am IN-CHARGE and you are not supposed to place it further in the back".

We politely pointed out to him that there WAS NO CLEARLY visible POSTED sign ANYWHERE [on the bus NOR on the luggage compartment] that confirmed his flimsy verbal assertion: "you are not supposed to place it further in the back".

In response, he angrily kicked our bag and broke an expensive glass-vase that was inside it.

He refused to provide us his name/driver-operator-number NOR would he let us write down the bus-number and/ or the bus license-plate information.

Here is customer services response:

I am following up on your email of March 18, 2010. I am sorry that you
had this unfortunate experience on our system and we certainly
understand your frustration.

An investigation was conducted by Bus Operations supervisory personnel,
however, we were unable to establish the issue of a broken vase. As you
are requesting reimbursement for the cost of the vase, your request must
be addressed directly in writing (electronic not accepted) to our Legal
Services and Claims Department for consideration.

Please send a detailed letter, including a copy of the original receipt
to:

GO Transit Claims Department
20 Bay St. Suite 600
Toronto, ON
M5J 2W3

We appreciate you bringing your concerns to our attention.

The question here is how did they follow up. Did they ask for witnesses that also took the bus trip

were there video cameras in the station? or did they simply talk to the driver? Are there cameras at the Hamilton bus station that could have seen this happen? If not, this brings up a safety concern especially for female passengers taking late night buses to Hamilton from Toronto.

As for foul language and harsh treatment, I too have experience this attitude from both train and bus personnel. It has not been to the extent of the above but I can relate.

I would like to hear someone from Go Transit comment on the safety concerns at the Hamilton Go Station and how it plans to resolve these issues.

Shopping carts please stay well behind the yellow line

It seems that the message for people to stay well back from the yellow line is working but those shopping carts are not listening. They are making their way onto the tracks and causing serious concerns. I guess they are following those mattresses across.

Seriously, whomever is putting shopping carts, mattresses and other large items on the tracks, stop it. You are going to kill somebody. This is a serious safety concern. Maybe we need cameras on the tracks in areas this is happening more often to catch these people.

If you have any safety concerns or other issues you would like to share with the group please post them here or email them to Susan Fischer at susan@clinchportal.com

Average 80 minute commute, Government Surplus but delayed transit plan funding

A study released today shows how commuters in Toronto spend an average of 80 minutes commuting http://ipoint.to/80minutecommute

Not much earlier was the news that Transit funding was being delayed http://ipoint.to/transitfundingdelay

But wasn't one of the major announcements in the latest budget transit spending? Am I missing something?

Where is this transit money going?

I would love to hear responses on where this money is going. Please comment on this post.

Warning: Schedule Changes April 3, 2010

For all those loyal blog readers, I thought I would remind you of the schedule changes that are happening April 3, 2010. If you are taking the Lakeshore line the normal trains will be leaving earlier from your stations.

If you have any tips, comments, etc you would like to share with the followers of this blog please post them as comments or email them to Susan Fischer at susan@clinchportal.com and we will post an article.

More money for transit less money for silly songs

O Canada, our home and native land.

True paitrot love in all your coyotes command.

With glowing hearts we see thee rise

Our Go and TTC Fares.

The tax money is better spent

To ensure our anthem is gender free.

As you may have guessed, the opposition party does not like the word sons in

our anthem but has no problem letting coyotes run wild in our school yards and

attack pets in our backyards. They also have no problem giving no more money to

public transit to help the environment.

If you would like to let the government know that our kids safety is important join the protest here:

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Petition-To-Protect-our-kids-from-Coyotes/339212382988?ref=ts

If you don't like the go transit fee hikes, fill in the petition at:

http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/reject_go_fare_hike_2010/signatures?page=2

Had an affair? Work for TTC

It seems rather hypocritical to be all up in arms about a company paying millions to advertise on the subway saying its morally wrong but then as head of the TTC do those same immoral acts.

This hypocracy between management at TTC and its employees is unfair to both the employees and the customer. Change really needs to happen at the TTC and removing the highest person for someone ready for change is a bold move that needs to be made.

Reasons to feel lucky you take Go Transit

You have come a long way Go Transit when it comes to customer service.
Lucky for us passengers we don't have to deal with employee feuds with management,
employee passenger feuds. Here is an article that points out some of the reasons I am
glad I no longer take TTC and simply purchase my Go Monthly Pass:

http://ipoint.to/jjnqj8

Just when the Go-ing was good

It looks like another switch malfunction. This is two in the same number of weeks.
Both times service was suspended on the Lakeshore West line.

Due to an ongoing CN signal and radio communication malfunction, train
service on the Lakeshore West and Georgetown lines is temporarily suspended. CN
and GO Transit are working to resolve the issue and resume train service. We
apologize for the inconvenience. An update will be provided.

At least last time they gave us a free ride. For those who have not collected it you should check it out. I know if service is still out at the rush hours I will be asking for another free ride.

Here is another update. Looks like a 40 to 50 minute delay. That is possibly a 70% delay for the 5:19 train that normally arrives in Burlington at around 6:20

The CN signal and communication malfunction has been resolved. Train
service on the Lakeshore West and Georgetown lines has resumed. Passengers may
expect delays of 40-50 minutes. We apologize for the inconvenience as we work
with CN to resume regularly scheduled train service on these lines.

Excuses and Changing it to make it work.

Two things I found very interesting over the past couple days.
Firstly, the TTC has a public relations nightmare on their hands.
They have a fare hike nobody wants, they have people pointing out
waste of resources in the system. Now we have a 6 hour outage. From a
public relations point of view its easy to blame the subcontractor but
what about easing the passengers needs. It was cold and damp out.
People were standing for hours waiting. Why not bring out some portable
heaters to keep them warm or maybe supply them with a warm cup of coffee.
Its not our fault but we care. A missed opportunity they could maybe do next
time. Given the disorganization of TTC we know there will be a next time.

On another note, I had not taken the train leaving burlington at 7:38 for a while.
It used to arrive at Union at 8:22 am and the conductor would announce that it was on time.
I noticed that now the train arrives at 8:30 am and the conductor would announce that it was on time. I guess the way to reduce delays is to adjust the schedule to compensate. Way to go
Go Transit.

Susan came across this article about schedule 'Inflation' written by Ed Drass in the Metro News. You may wish to check it out here is the link:

http://www.metronews.ca/toronto/blog/post/389624

Go Transit and the Pan AM Games

It is understandable that bringing the Pan AM Games to the GTA will help out the cities
economy and we really need to show them our world class transit system but with limited resources at Go Transit and thus cancelling trains are we not proving the opposite to them.

http://www.thespec.com/article/627028

A better approach, would be to cut the train in half. You do have extra engines at Mimico I see them every morning during the rush just sitting there. Why not split up the train and at least run a shorter train through the normal line. Commuters are used to delays so a delay due to congestion would not produce the negative feedback you are getting now.

It is all about thinking smarter. I think Go Transit really needs someone to take control of the behemoth organization and clean it up. Someone needs to look at Go Transit from the switch and dispatch level all the way up and figure out solutions fast. From my experience with him in the past I really think Rob MacIsaac is your man to do it. Every day it becomes clearer that MetroLynx should talke control of the TTC and Go Transit and make them more efficient and work together with existing transit.

I look forward to hearing your comments on this and other postings.

Go Transit Paranoia

Imagine what would happen if a real disaster happened on the Lakeshore West line.
All that happened here was a track outage and it is utter chaos at Union. From
what I heard from the Engineers on my train the 6:03 pm train from Union, there were
2 go trains ahead of us. So counting back that is the 5:43 and 5:34 train so that means it took Go Transit over a half an hour to determine that there was in fact a track outage.

Our train got stopped at Exhibition and the public relations person on the train told us the track was out at Oakville. From speaking directly with him he said that came straight from dispatch. Upon calling 1-888-get-on-go they told me long branch was out. To make matters worse, anyone traveling from Union to anywhere west except Hamilton and Aldershot were SOL as far as buses were concerned.

You would think this was Go Transit's first disaster by how they reacted but in fact only a few short years ago there was the were 3 such in one year, a fire at Clarkson, a track outage at Mimico due to a CN derailment. Even still the big Toronto blackout had buses available for people to get home. You think they would get better but I have to say that in past, they actually did a better job getting us home.

While we wait for the bus, three other buses come in and one express bus heads back to Union. Optimization would say to have that bus with only a hand full of people on it, go back to Aldershot with our load too, then to Union rather than sending another bus one stop and use extra fuel. I guess that is where are go transit pass increases come from, unnecessary fuel consumption.

As I sit on the bus in Hamilton at 8:37 they just announced that the trains are running. So leaving Union at 6:03, I have already been on the Go system for over 1 and 1/2 hours and the bus is still sitting here waiting to leave. One passenger was so irate at Hamilton bus terminal by the lack of information that Go Transit kicked him out of the station rather than simply answering which stop we needed to wait at.

Just as go transit thought their concerns were over with the trains running. Some incident at the Union Station bus terminal which included an ambulance needing to get through, stopped all go busses from entering the terminal. The dispatch told all buses to stay away from Union Bus terminal or they would be sent right through.

It is 9:00 pm and I am now at Aldershot. I am one of the luckier ones that got off at Aldershot to a ride waiting for me. Unfortunately most passengers heading back East will have to wait until 10:00 pm for the next train even though two empty west bound trains headed on to Hamilton which is not even a regular stop at this time of night. Another way to piss off us passengers and waste more fuel.

I look forward to hearing from Go Transit how they are going to improve the situation in the future at least on par with future major disasters and possibly a refund or rebate to those travelers who took the train and were stranded.

As a footnote for those people that want to bury the gardiner because its an eyesore, well if they had done that already then all the highway communter would be stranded too.

Feel free to comment on the blog and I will approve them. You may also email Susan Fischer at susan@clinchportal.com and we will post any comments you have anonymously.

GO Transit and Burlington Transit Rip Off Students

The Burlington Transit has 2-4-1 bus passes for students. If they pay $64 for the july pass they get august free or they can get the July pass for $40. I went to the Go Transit Burlington station and the attendant was rude and told me she didn't know about the deal.

I went home and brought the ad in the Burlington Post newspaper advertising it and she still said no. I called 1-888-Getongo and they put me on hold and finally told me they don't sell discounted passes, however they have sold Student passes at full price to many students already. So anyone buying the BT Student bus passes Go Transit and Burlington Transit just ripped you off for $64. If you are concerned about it please contact Burlington Transit and Go Transit Customer Service and let them know how you feel about being ripped off.

For those who have not bought yours yet, which I figure are few since its already July 1st. Go to Mapleview mall or Burlington Mall to get them. I guess in future the lesson is beware of buying your tickets or passes at the Go Station as they may be ripping you off.

Arriving on Platform 6 Today. Good Job Today Keep it Up.

I just wanted to say that bringing the 7:15 train from burlington in on track 6 today
was a good move. It allowed the platform to clear easier and by doing so when the 7:25 train
comes in on the outer platform its not as congested.

I hope you will keep this up for the 7:15 train as it makes sense from a safety concern. You get the train in and out and then pull in the east bound so it leaves on time and there is limited crowding on the platform.

Cheers to Go Transit. You made a good decision.

Go Transit Safety : The next sexy issue

Everybody is talking about the next sexy issue ever since that MP was quoted at claiming it was the isotopes issue. With the pending election to be announced probably in the Summer so most of the population is away, Susan Fischer predicts that Go Transit Safety will become the next sexy issue.

There has been a lot of talk lately about the safety of the new platforms at Union. For a while now we have been pointing out safety concerns on this blog. There are new lines being constructed and expanded. There is lots of talk about electrifying the tracks but nothing yet about safety concerns about people crossing them illegally like they do now and getting electricuted.

If you have any comments on this post them here or email them to Susan Fischer at susan@clinchportal.com and we will post them here.

Platform 26: It worked once why do it again?

Go Transit suffers from two syndromes which are veryapparent in their response to Ed Drass' article on theuse of Platform 26 and 27.

Early in the article he mentions that the issue is thatthe stairway is wide enough for two people but the dooris narrow and only lets one person through at a time.

To which Go states that the platforms are as large as theycan be without removing tracks. Duh, we are not complainingabout the platforms. The doors on platform 4 could easily havebeen placed on platform 26 had the door frame been made wider.

Now let's look at "It worked once why do it again". The reasonI say this is that all the older platforms have doorways wide enough for two people to get through so why change that for platform 26. Now let's lookat Thomas' comment "The design is being reviewed to see if wider doors or double doorscan be developed at each stairwell"

These after thoughts seem to be huge with go transit. I recommend the following solution.

1) The engineers on any project related to the rider should have to ride the effected train both before design an on the first trip during rush hour both directions. That way any changes can be started the day of the first trip not after a load of customers complain and an article is written.

2) Committe members and dispatch operators should be obliged to take a rush hour train preferrably one of the major delayed trains and keep an eye out for possible improvement in switch optimization and other optimizations in train scheduling.

If go transit were to implement these two solutions you would probably see a lot of issues get resolved. I look forward to Go Transit's comments in this manner and for a timeframe on implementing at least solution 2.

Nobody Working in Customer Relations At Union

It appears that nobody is on the payroll for customer service at Union. My friend tried calling about a lost blackberry and was informed that there was nobody to take his call and that he should run to union and deal with the matter in person.

Upon calling 1-888-getongo she tried for a good 1/2 hour to contact someone even a supervisor with no luck. Eventually after trying for another 1/2 hour to contact the next person up the chain of command I got transfered to Esther in Public Relations that told me that I was to just leave a voice mail and that the would deal with it in their own time. So if nobody is working in Customer Service then the 20 or so people sitting in the customer service office should not be getting paid. So if each person made 30,000 a year that is a cost savings of $600,000. Wait a minute if you took that savings and decided there were other jobs in public relations and administration you didn't need then there would be no need for the fare hike we had this year.

Hmm. Maybe getting rid of customer relations and public relations is a good thing. They don't appear to be doing anything anyways.

If you fail this quiz then you either don't take Go Transit or you wear your ipod too often.

This is an easy quiz. I challenge you all to try it and win a prize:

http://www.gotransit.com/publicroot/en/contest/railsafetyweek2009.aspx

Let's show Go Transit that their little rant before each train trip is working.

Presto and Initiatives to Get people taking bus to the train

You would think that since they are pushing hard for people to take alternate moves to the station and given the money they are spending on the Presto people at the station to ramp it up that the Lakeshore line Presto program would be moving at high speed.

I asked one of the representatives about the Burlington Transit and she told me that Bronte Station will be getting it first sometime in 2010 and then it will slowly roll out from there. The milton line has had it for what seems ages now while the rest of us wait. Wouldn't it make sense to roll it out at Oakville Station since there are definite parking problems there. Bronte station is the secondary station so it doesn't necessarily need it. How about Clarkson or Port Credit since there are a lot of bus connections and limited parking.

I hope someone at Presto and Metrolynx is reading this and takes heed. This is where the real need is not just Bronte. Think about it too, at Oakville you have Via rail. Wouldn't it be amazing if you could tie Via into Presto too?

I look forward to your comments.

Metrolynx and Go Transit Merging

That is actually quite funny since Go Transit runs little more than customer service.
All the major stuff is done by CN/CP or Bombardier. But I guess merging them will get rid
of some of those politicians trying to get in the way. Possibly Metrolynx can merge with CN and
produce efficiency there. The issue here is switch optimization, politics over whether CN or Go Transit owns the new tracks. Well if Metrolynx owned them both, no problem no fight.

I look forward to the merger and hope Metrolynx realizes the next move is taking over CN and possibly VIA.

I look forward to your opinion in this matter.