Go Transit To Use Bombardier More

I read recently that Bombardier won some more contracts with
Go Transit. The plus side is that with everything under Bombardier
they cannot blame each other for delays. Oh it was the conductors,
oh it was the engines. Since the trains are theirs, the staff are theirs
everything but the track is theirs so if its broken it them.

This is a good thing. Now the only complaint we will hear from Go is
congestion on the tracks. The CN and Via trains. But with new track
being added that should help reduce them too.

Things are picking up at Go Transit. They are getting smarter and doing
all they can for Customer Service. Here's hoping they continue this trend of smarts.
I have to say the additional weekend trains to Aldershot and running more evening trains there is a real plus.

The other morning one there were some delays so they did an express train Burlington to Toronto to make up time. This was a smart thing to do. The two trains were close and it got all the people from the first train to toronto in good time. Whomever made that decision deserves a good pat on the back for a job well done.

Audited for Transit Credit

I have been asked by revenue canada to send in all my reciepts for transit. Not just the metro pass but the official receipts. I called ttc and it seems they were not always handing them out but will allow you to bring your passes to the Davisville station to get them. I am interested in how many are in the
same boat or if they are simply picking on me. If I don't hear anything I will assume they are picking on me because I am writing this blog.

If you are in the same boat and are facing the task of faxing in every receipt then please email me at chrisw_88@hotmail.com as well email Mike Wallace at Wallace.M@parl.gc.ca so he will have ammunition for this issue.

Expanded Weekend Schedule - Now I am really loving Go Transit

I just received a Go Transit Alert about a schedule change and got scared but it was a good thing. Instead of weekend trains starting at Oakville, they will be now starting at Aldershot. That means we don't have to drive to Oakville then catch the train saving on gas and helping our environment.

I have to say, Go Transit is finally making us Lakeshore Customers a little happier paying more than the other go lines for passes.

Keep up the good work!!!

New Long Weekend and Transit Funding?

Now that Dalton McGuinty is in power for another term, hopefully his promises will
be kept. The big ones for me are the February Long Weekend promised and the promise
of vastly improving public transit.

We have seen some improvement but not a lot. We are still fighting issues with crowded parking lots. If I catch a train in Burlington after 8:00 it means I have to drive a lot further using more gas to take transit. I have heard worse stories from fellow commuters further east down the tracks. If they don't find parking they have to drive to work.

Its interesting that a study got released yesterday that said we should raise gas tax to prevent people from driving. How about give them a place to park in the Go or TTC parking lots. Then more would drive. Its like taxing cigarettes to get people to stop smoking then taxing the medicines they use to quit. He wait a minute don't we already to that.

Oops, I spoke to soon!!!

Well I guess I spoke to soon on that one. It seems Go has made improvements but today they fell back into their old pattern. This morning I went to take the train leaving Burlington at 7:25 am and unfortunately it left a couple minutes early so I missed it. Now normally I would say ok, you have to keep your schedule so next train. However, the difference today is that Go Transit knew at after 6:00 am that there were going to be train cancellations so the next train at 8:00 was cancelled. Knowing this it would have helped if they had been flexible with the schedule for the 7:25 am train so we could have caught it. Instead we had to wait for the 8:14 am train.

On top of this the 8:14 train was 15 minutes late so instead of arriving at work early at 8:00 am I arrived late at 9:30 am. I understand there are accidents, I understand delays are part of the situation but what Go Transit needs to understand is that sometimes, because of a cancellation it would actually help out the customer to have the prior train be a little flexible on its leaving time to catch a few strays that are going to miss the next cancellation.

I found it interesting that in the Metro this morning someone was actually complaining about Go Transit giving money to people left stranded because of the fire. I am guessing he is not a regular go user or possibly a go employee because I think most Go-Transit riders would appreciate the token of appreciation Go gave and that it was not the delay per say but kind of an apology of sorts for how they reacted.

In general, Go-Transit has gotten a lot better. This morning was a slip I think (hope), and possibly they will examine their behavior and fix it. A small change would help a lot.

Go Transit is now the Better Way - TTC Show us you deserve your title

I have to say, Go Transit has done leaps and bounds in customer service. I noticed today outside customer service people were waiting in line to get credits for the delays on the lakeshore stoffville lines. So now I am changing focus, at least for this posting to another big transit system TTC - The better way?

Here is the issue, its the beginning of the month and everyone gets their tokens and Metro Passes. So why is it that only one automated MetroPass machine is working. Secondly, from the looks of it, a large amount of the extra line this month and possibly next month with the increase in the price of metropasses was token buyers that could not use $20 bills in the token machines that had small lineups. Also the token machines today did not accept change either even though they are clearly marked with toonies and loonies on the front. I waited for almost an hour for my metropass this morning.

The interesting sidenote is that the TTC wondered why everyone jumped to get Metropasses they cited that it was simply money but fail to see that getting tokens is a pain. You have to have a $10 bill and are only allowed a maximum of 20 tokens at a time. Otherwise you need to buy tickets which means you are in line anyways so you might as well buy a metropass so you only have to lineup once.

In closing, Go Transit you have come a long way, keep up the good work. TTC, now its time to take a look at Go Transit and raise the bar because right now Go Transit is the better way.

Lakeshore East, Alternate Routes

There are some things that are out of Go Transit's control but then there are others they should be arranging better. This latest cancellation of trains East is an example. I heard about the fire at 3:00 and stayed later to avoid it.

Upon reaching the station, I noticed that the Lakeshore East trains were still cancelled and commuters were being told to go back up to yonge and bloor and take the train to scarborough and there were go buses waiting. Wouldn't it be great if that announcement were made on the ttc line as well. That way you would not have people rushing for Union Station on the subway only to spend another 1/2 hour on the subway to get to Scarborough to catch the Go Bus.

A lot of passengers do cross-over from the ttc, some from north up at Yonge and Finch so knowing they could have transferred at Yonge and Bloor instead. Hopefully they will take this advice and use it in the future.

I have to say, Go Transit has been doing a lot better job in the past year of listening to its passengers. I have seen vast improvement in service. Keep up the good work.

Good Job!! I have to give credit when its due

I have been through quite a lot of these delays due to police emergencies but I have to admit
the way they handled it last night was awesome. Even though almost all the trains were cancelled, they managed to get a train out westbound at 5:43 and actually managed to get a large number of people from the 4 missed trains on that one.

It was the excellent work of the Go Transit Workers that was very convincing in his banter to get people to squeeze in. Their orgazation meant I was only 1 hour late getting home. In the past it had been as much as 4-6 hours late so vast improvement. Hopefully this is not a fluke but actually a deliberate improvement on their part.

Keep up the good work!!!

Issue with Go-Transit and the Transit Tax Credit

I filled out my tax return as normal and put on the new Transit Credit info. Since I am coming in from Burlington and taking the TTC. This value is at a maximum. I tried to reach Revenue Canada but the line was busy all day. I got a hold of the media relations person Sam Papadopoulos and he explained the procedure.

"The computer based on past filing history could ask for validation of application before assessing or within 3 years of assessing. A computer also picks random people"

So because they goofed up one of my claims in the past, now any time there is a new deduction they are going to target me. If you are in the same boat and are facing the task of faxing in every receipt then please email me at chrisw_88@hotmail.com as well email Mike Wallace at Wallace.M@parl.gc.ca so he will have ammunition for this issue.

Props to Go Transit Customer Service

It was a nice surprise last night on the commute home to see that Go Transit had someone handing out printed apologies and stated the real reasons for the delays. This is a positive
step for Go Transit and I thought I would say thanks and keep up the good work. A little communication goes a long way.

New Track in Burlington, Any Relation To Cancellations?

So the train stopping in Burlington at 7:25 is now using the new track 3. How ironic that now the new track is there that there are train cancellations and delays everywhere.

Its interesting that now they have the new track they are still not optimizing their schedules.
The 7.25 train got to Oakville and told people about the all stop train across the platform. That train was allowed to leave before us. Given that we were the express train and would only be making a couple more stops, wouldn't it make sense to let us go ahead so we would not get stuck behind it at port credit. I guess that is why they work where they do. If they were educated in time management they would be in charge of more time critical stuff.

Why not ask the passengers for information and suggestions on scheduling. Its a shame because the passengers of the trains would be able to provide very good feedback on where the bottlenecks are and often time how to avoid them. Sometimes its a simple as not making that extra track change or letting one train go ahead of another in a logical manner.

Presto Chango - Let Me Pull More Revenue Out Of My Hat

Presto sounds like a good idea. It allows you to transfer between systems with a single pass. But from the documentation I received from Union Station this morning. It seems to be missing something.

Why would I want a Presto Card?

* Easy transfers within and between transit systems with just one
card.
* No more searching for the right change
* Peace of mind. Riders who report a registered card lost or stolen
can have any remaining value transerred to a new card.

Wait a minute here, exact change, but what about my discounts I get now for Go Transit and TTC Passes. As we all know from recent news, so many people are using MetroPass that the TTC is short millions of dollars. So are these cards only aimed at people that don't have monthly passes?

You just have to look around when security officers are on Go Transit to see how many people pull out their Monthly Passes. They are cheaper and there is a government tax credit to make it even more so. The same for the TTC, you just have to look at the station entrances to see everyone pulling out their MetroPass. So my question is will the Presto Pass support individuals paying a flat rate for a month and then carrying their Presto pass instead of 2-3 transit passes. That would be very good. I currently have a Metro Pass and a Go Transit Pass, other have local transit on one end, Go Transit and MetroPass.

Let's break it down: I take Go Transit from burlingtion and MetroPass for the TTC every day.

Go Adult Pass $247.00
Metro Pass $99.75
---------------------
346.75


Go 10 Ride $69.75 x 4 = $279
Metro Pass $99.75
-------------------------
378.75

Go Single Ride $7.65 x 2 x 5 x 12 = $306
Metro Pass $99.75
----------------------------
405.75

Go Adult Pass $247.00
Tokens $21.00 x 4 = $84
---------------------

Go 10 Ride $69.75 x 4 = $279
Tokens $21.00 x 4 = $84
-------------------------
$331

Go Single Ride $7.65 x 2 x 5 x 12 = $306
Tokens $21.00 x 4 = $84
----------------------------
$390

Go Adult Pass $247.00
Cash fare: $2.75 x 2 x 5 x 4 = $110
---------------------
$357

Go 10 Ride $69.75 x 4 = $279
Cash fare: $2.75 x 2 x 5 x 4 = $110
-------------------------
$389

Go Single Ride $7.65 x 2 x 5 x 12 = $306
Cash fare: $2.75 x 2 x 5 x 4 = $110
----------------------------
$416


I await someone from Presto to clarify this as it could be a good marketing move for you to push this in your brochure too as there are a lot of us using the system this way.

From my calculations, the fare could be anywhere from $346.75 to $416 depending on how the Presto card works. Its only beginning so I am sure there will be more press on it coming soon and more information throught the newsletter. I suggest we all subscribe to the newsletter at http://www.prestocard.ca and keep in the loop. It could be a good service but if we see now that it doesn't look useful we may want to let them know. They have many years before its fully implemented so lots of time to make changes.

Save the Shepard Line. Buy token not your MetroPass?

I thought this was odd that more ridership meant a loss of $30 million but it
does make sense. Tokens are more expensive so TTC makes more money off them so with all of us buying MetroPasses we are costing the TTC money it needs to maintain the network. The thing that doesn't make sense is didn't they realize people are going to want to save as much money as possible. How come it took so long before they realized that they were $30 million dollars short? Sounds like they need a new accounting team to look at their books.

I wonder how many other of these things are being missed and maybe instead of a fare increase they could find another way to get the money. While we are at it let's get the new accountant to look into where all the gas tax money went.

Closing The Sheppard Line

Its interesting that the TTC would choose the Sheppard Line to close as this is the transit route for many to get to IKEA. For those familiar, IKEA is known for needing police to do traffic duty in their parking lots because of the number of people driving there. This route is not just for IKEA but it is an interesting fact.



Anyways, on to the true issue here. It seems that because the TTC has been so good at marketing to us to use them and with the government incentive tax credit we have all switched to Metro Passes. Since the TTC does not make a lot of money off them they are $30 million short. But the real issue here is that the government is collecting almost half the amount we are using to fill out tanks with gas. Where is that money going? Is it all going to public transit like it should? I remember David Miller was fighting for that.



In the past 5 years, gas prices have more than doubled, since half of that is tax and if it were going where it should (public transit) we should see some improvements in this sector.



The TTC and Go Transit lines are the heart of the transit systems in Ontario, so why are there already less buses on the road now than 5 years ago. Why is the system overcrowded? Why are we actually reducing service during this time when Gas Tax revenue is up?



Whose pockets are getting lined? What private companies are getting public money as profit for building public transit? Well let's see, there is CN who is building the new rail lines with government money only to own them later themselves because they own the land. So the goverment pays to build them then pays to use them. Ok the 407, the government helps pay to build it but how much money is the government seeing back, plus government workers such as police, and public transit (buses) have to pay to use it Ok the rapid transit link to the airport, goverment funded but privately run. These are but a few examples of waste.



The answer is clear, the government likes to look good for their pictures and cameos but when it comes to really being dedicated to a better transit system it turns out to be all smoke an mirrors.



Maybe this should be the subject of a Michael Moore movie, "Full of Gas Tax, Empty on Transit"



This is only one opinion. I look forward to seeing others comment on this issue.

Train 407 Where Are You? That's Right You Are Delayed

The key to delays on our systems have been told to us over and over. Government is not giving transit enough money so they are cutting corners and having to order replacement stuff at the last minute sometimes these will create more than delay but also could be a danger to the passengers. Note in the July 5, 2007 article that the Train 407 is delayed 50% of the time and that one of the potential causes is the reduction of staff on the trains that happened in January.
But this is Go Transit you say the TTC is the Better Way. Well I have pasted in an article about that too.

The TTC is having its own issues, from the older article I found on them but the new chief over there is starting to get things going by doing much needed repairs on subway stations. Things were really starting to fall apart. The construction means delays but so be it if it means we are going to be safer. On the other hand Go Transit is delaying us, but not to make us safer.

Excerpts from July 5, 2007 http://www.metronews.ca/column.aspx?id=59806

GO
Transit packed its schedule with trains over the last decade, partly to make up
for a lack of new tracks and infrastructure, but the result is brief holdups can
begin a cascade effect.

This train, identified by GO as No. 407, is chronically late because it runs at
the end of rush hour, according to agency chief Gary McNeil.
It is delayed at
least five minutes almost 50 per cent of the time, he says, and has one of the
worst records of all GO trains.
There is so little time between trains that
small delays during peak hours get compounded, he says.
“It’s symptomatic of
the majority of the GO system, especially along the Lakeshore line and the
Georgetown line and Richmond Hill lines.
“We are operating at capacity, from
a train movement perspective. Everything has to function to 100 per cent in
order to keep all the trains on schedule.
“There’s literally no slough in any
of the times.”
GO Transit packed its schedule with trains over the last
decade, partly to make up for a lack of new tracks and infrastructure, but the
result is brief holdups can begin a cascade effect.
McNeil admits the recent
change from two locomotive engineers on Lakeshore trains to one has cost
precious minutes when trains turn around.
McNeil says this problem should
“evaporate” when a new crewing contract begins next year.
As for train 407,
GO has asked CN Rail for permission to shift an earlier run by three minutes to
ease the pressure on the schedule.

Excerpts from October 17, 2006 : http://www.metronews.ca/column.aspx?id=14002&searchtype=1&fragment=False

Quote from Bob Boutillier:

“This last year in particular has been, I guess, the perfect storm — the
retirement of old buses, late deliveries (of new buses), and on top of that we
had to do a lot of warranty work that we would not normally do
(due to a manufacturing flaw that led to small fires on some
buses).”
Next is a persistent shortage of bus operators,
aggravated
by a higher-than-normal rate of new drivers failing the training
process."

...

“There are actually seven ... command posts where you have people sitting in front of the computer — and it’s old technology.”
Some of these routes have 20 or 30 buses, and one person may handle eight or nine routes. More supervisors would mean more cost to the TTC, as would a decent notification system to tell riders why their bus is late, or why a vehicle must be short-turned. Getting the word out won’t fix the problem, but at least explain to us what’s happening."

I think that getting the word out lets people know how short changed we are when it comes to safe and reliable public transit and the reasons is our tax dollars are not going to transit. On top we expect people to stop driving and take it.

Driving Can Be Dangerous

I know most of you take Go-Transit but you may be driving to the station.
For this reason I thought I these commandments passed on by the Vatican.
Maybe they could save your lives.

The 10 commandments of driving

1. You shall not kill.
2. The road shall be for you a means of communion between people and not of
   mortal harm.
3. Courtesy, uprightness and prudence will help you deal with unforeseen
   events.
4. Be charitable and help your neighbour in need, especially victims of
   accidents.
5. Cars shall not be for you an expression of power and domination, and an occasion of sin.
6. Charitably convince the young and not so young not to drive when they are
   not in a fitting condition to do so.
7. Support the families of accident victims.
8. Bring guilty motorists and their victims together, at the appropriate time,
   so that they can undergo the liberating experience of forgiveness.
9. On the road, protect the more vulnerable party.
10. Feel responsible toward others.
    
    Source: The Vatican website and
    the Associated Press

Hope these commandments will help you in your day to day travels.

If It Were Not An Election Year .. Ontario Transit Plan

Kudos to Dalton McGuinty for finally realizing the crisis we have in transit. Unfortunately it took an approaching election for him to do it and interestingly enough this will start after the election.

The plan will see $17.5 billion invested in transit over 12 years starting in 2008.

It is unclear form what I have seen what the timeline is other than it will end in 2020. There are some good ideas here, like:

• Adding GO Bus Rapid Transit from Burlington to Highway 401
• Increasing speed and reducing emissions by electrifying the GO Lakeshore line.

Being a passenger on the Lakeshore line I will be keeping a close eye on this. Saving 15 minutes off my commute would be awesome,

Now, if they could do something to reduce the number of times we have to switch tracks that would further reduce delays. I didn't see anything about this in the plan but here is hoping.

Passenger Chaos, No Real Explaination

It all started on June 14, 2007 at 5:19 when the express to Oakville train was scheduled to leave the station. At the last minute all the passengers were sent down to the concourse with no explaination except that there was a Police Investigation. There was no sense in how long we would have to wait as in the past Go Transit had made us wait hours before telling us trains were cancelled for good during the Mimico derailment.

Time passed and more rush hour trains were cancelled so more people started to huddle in Union Station. It was getting crowded and no news except the recording that kept saying. Trains are delayed due to a Police Investigation. It must have been quite serious because it shut down all west end lines. In the past the Milton line was still running so passengers had some alternate.

Around 6:00 service restarted and the 5:19 express to Oakville stayed an express train. At least Go Transit did that right. Get the trains moving and people out of Union ASAP.

I searched the Go Transit site and even Google but it seems whatever happened its now covered up. We can only assume someone crossed the tracks outside union and did not have a safe crossing.

If this was the case it brings up an issue of Go Transit Safety and it starts with us the Passengers. The signs are everywhere and they announce it on every trip. Don't Cross The Tracks. Watch the signs and obey them.

Sometimes people cross the tracks for other reasons. This is a big problem in our society especially since there is really no action plan for the government for teens in this situation. Charities like www.lamplight.org that help teens in crisis has to survive on the help of good people donating and out of the founder's pockets. Its about time the government stepped up and instead of just preserving our world for our future generations how about funding agencies to keep our future generations safe now.

Cash for going green

Its an election year so its understandable that politicians are really acting green gung ho.
Its the season. Here is an article about money being given to municipalities that are going green.

http://www.metronews.ca/story.aspx?id=54964

The question I have is how much of this "green" money is going to help the overcrowding on public transit. If you really want to go green then pump more money in for buses and trains.
Pump money into analysing the Go Transit lines, especially the lakeshore line for inefficiency.

I take the line every day and on the 5:34 train we always wait at the hydro station for a train to leave the station so our train can arrive. We wait for 5 minutes every day. Why not move the other train to track 3 so we can arrive on track 1. It means we don't have to use up 5 minutes of extra fuel every day. Some times it 15-20 minutes if the go bus is late and the eastbound train waits.

If you know any politicians please point this out to them. It only makes sense since more riders want to use public transit instead of taking the cars. While we have to momentum lets improve things to keep them and have them invite more.

Let's get green together. By green I mean environmentally friendly, not green as politicians lining their pockets with it and only focusing on the environment close to an election.

Crazy Morning For Go Transit on the Lakeshore Line

It seems that a stalled train at the Burlington station was 1/2 way in the station. Havoc was caused as the station PA announced that the 6:30 train would be coming in on track 2 instead of track 1 and that it was arriving 15 minutes late. This confused passengers that were on the other track where there was a stuck train. The station officials had no idea when the 6:55 train would arrive.

Here is the trail of Go Alerts:

1. Lakeshore East corridor: The 0612 train trip from Oshawa to Union (0712) is PARTIALLY CANCELLED between Oshawa and Whitby. The train is scheduled to depart Whitby on time.
2. Lakeshore West corridor: The 0614 train trip from Hamilton to Union (0722) is PARTIALLY CANCELLED between Hamilton and Aldershot. The train will depart Aldershot on time. Buses will shuttle passengers from Hamilton to Aldershot.
3. Lakeshore East corridor: The 0743 train trip from Union to Pickering (0808) is CANCELLED due to equipment problems.
4. Lakeshore East Corridor: The 0818 train trip from Pickering to Union (0859) is PARTIALLY CANCELLED between Pickering and Guildwood. The train is scheduled to originate at Guildwood on time. The 0746 train trip from Oshawa to Union (0830) will make an ADDITIONAL STOP at Rouge Hill to accommodate passengers.
5. Lakeshore West Corridor: The 0634 train trip from Hamilton to Union (0738) is operating more than 30 minutes late due to equipment problems.
6. Lakeshore East: The 0731 train trip from Union to Oshawa (0826)will operate EXPRESS from Union to Pickering and then ALL STOPS from Pickering to Oshawa.
7. Lakeshore West corridor: The 0704 train trip from Hamilton to Union (0808) is operating 31 minutes late due to equipment problems.
8. Lakeshore East corridor: The 0818 train trip from Pickering to Union is Cancelled due to equipment problems. The 0754 train trip from Pickering to Union is operating 30 minutes late at Eglinton.

Now the question her is how many of these was caused by the train sitting stalled in Burlington station. If only they would have had the 6:30 train come in behind the other one and it could have pushed it to mimico. Then some of the congestion would be solved. Again 40 years go transit has been running on the Lakeshore Corridor and still they do not know how to schedule trains and deal with engine failures.

From other material from Go Transit itself it said that the engines are very sensitive to hot and cold days, so when the warmer weather comes Go Transit should know by now to expect issues and have action plans for such occasions. Just another way Go Transit could look out for us, the Customer.