The Great Canadian Transit Thread

[Monolith]

Originally Posted by Metro-One

Anyways, talking about metros, here is an update of the Evergreen Line in Vancouver:
• Video Link

Thanks for the update, Metro. The Evergreen sure is coming along.

BTW, I cant believe the clarity of the 4K video you linked.

[SkahHigh]

Originally Posted by 1overcosc

I'm pretty sure that the busiest metro/subway station in Canada is Union, followed by Bloor-Yonge.

It's Bloor-Yonge I think.

[LeftCoaster]

I thought as far as pure metro stats were concerned that it was Bloor-Yonge, but Union is the overall much busier station due to Go and Via.

[vegeta_skyline]

It's so weird how they assemble bridges in pieces like that. I know its structurally sound, but its just doesn't look like it would be.

[Innsertnamehere]

Finch isn't far behind Union as well. Finch would be the busiest station without any transfers between trains.

[TorontoDrew]

The 4 top subway stations for the TTC are as follows. The info is from wiki so I'm not sure how up to date all the numbers are, and I'm assuming mon-Fri numbers.


1. Bloor-Yonge -401,250 customer trips per day
2. St. George -253,460 people a day
3. Sheppard–Yonge -124,350 people per day
4. Union - It serves approximately 100,000 people a day

[Innsertnamehere]

https://www.ttc.ca/PDF/Transit_Planning/Subway_ridership_2012-2013.pdf

2012-2013 numbers.

Bloor-Yonge is 211,000 on the Yonge platform, 189,000 on the Bloor platform

St. George is 124,000 on the Yonge platform, 129,000 on the Bloor platform

Union is 99,000

Finch is 97,000

Eglinton is at 79,000

Sheppard-Yonge is 77,000 on the Yonge platform and 47,000 on the Sheppard platform.

[1overcosc]

Huh, well colour me incorrect. Union subway station actually has far less than I thought. I guess most GO patrons just walk from Union to their final destination? I would have thought there's a decent number making that transfer from GO to TTC.

[caltrane74]

Union Station Overall is the busiest in the country though.

It would be easy to assume the subway station is also the busiest.

[Innsertnamehere]

Originally Posted by 1overcosc

Huh, well colour me incorrect. Union subway station actually has far less than I thought. I guess most GO patrons just walk from Union to their final destination? I would have thought there's a decent number making that transfer from GO to TTC.

Yes, most just walk. Even then there is significant transfers to the TTC, but the bloor line alone handles twice as many people daily as the entire GO network.

The transfers would be a lot more significant if there wasn't such a large fare difference. Most people aren't willing to pay the $5.40 a day extra to ride the subway, and will instead take a slightly longer walk in the PATH.

[lrt's friend]

There is a general assumption that people like transferring in Toronto. As we can see, that is not the case with Go Transit riders. And it makes sense since on outbound trips, the frequency of Go trains creates a big transfer penalty. When we consider transfers, we often only think about inbound trips and transferring onto frequent subways or streetcars. We also have to think about the reverse trip.

[1overcosc]

I think the transfer penalty between GO and TTC is mostly due to the fact that you have to pay for it (TTC fares are not valid on GO and vice versa, so you have to pay twice if you want to do a GO->TTC transfer), not because of the transfer itself.

[Aylmer]

If you're faced with having to pay an extra $6 every day ($1500 for the average worker) to go a couple of blocks, of course you'll walk it. If fares were integrated, however, you'd see very large numbers of people transfer.

[Nouvellecosse]

^ I guess we better hope we never see fares integrated as there could be a big spike in obesity rates!

[lrt's friend]

The extra fare is a disincentive to transfer but those people are all within walking distance of Union Station. This also creates predictability. Your train departs at 5:00 p.m. You know how long it takes to walk to the station. It becomes more unpredictable when you have to transfer off of another transit vehicle, which means you could miss your train and wait how long? I think we underestimate that as an issue. Once Go Trains start running every 15 minutes, it becomes more practical to use to transit in a wider area from Union Station. As it stands, the further away from Union you have to travel, the riskier it becomes for a problematic commute. I expect an analysis of statistics will reveal that the majority of Go commuters can walk to their destination from Union Station.

[Innsertnamehere]

As someone with personal experience with this, it's not an issue. I would normally walk to union, but would catch the subway from Dundas occasionally if I was running late and needed to catch up some time. It would take roughly 20 minutes walking, or 5-8 minutes by subway. The subway is reliable enough and frequent enough that it doesn't really matter, as long as you provide a couple minutes of cushion time, just as you would who walk.

[1overcosc]

I'm sure one can easily time it with the subway.

Suppose it's:
-6 minute walk to the subway platform
-subway at 3 minute frequency
-4 minute subway ride to Union
-3 minute walk from subway platform to GO platform

That means that the 'maximum' amount of time it will take to get to the GO platform by subway is 6+3+4+3=16 minutes. So, time it so you leave work 20 minutes before the GO train leaves. That gives you 4 minutes of buffer in case of delays and minimizes wait time at Union.

[MalcolmTucker]

Yeah, in the 80s my Dad walked from Bay and College (or on some days from U of T) to Union instead of paying the transfer. If the weather was really bad could walk mostly inside even then.

[matt602]

I also usually just walk to Union if I'm downtown, especially if it's rush hour on a weekday, even if I've already paid and can transfer. The subway and streetcar are a nightmare compared to the walk unless it's bitter cold out, in which case I can just take the PATH anyway.

[SignalHillHiker]

Calgary’s soaring transit use suggests high ridership is possible even in sprawling cities

http://www.thetransportpolitic.com/2014/...ip-is-possible-even-in-sprawling-cities/