GO Transit - Page 19

metropolis · #**361** Posted **Oct 26, 2009, 2:31 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by taylortbb

I certainly think the 401 is plenty for our road needs, if we need more capacity then rail is the answer.

jcollins · #**362** Posted **Nov 2, 2009, 11:54 PM**

GO buses underway

November 02, 2009
By Jeff Outhit, Record staff

WATERLOO REGION — Maureen Dooley took a bus Sunday to see her daughter in Mississauga and was pretty happy about it.

She was among the first passengers on the new GO Transit bus service that launched Saturday.

“It’s great. It’s about time,” Dooley said. “We really need it.”

Dooley and her husband Brian paid just under $25 for two return tickets to Mississauga, at the senior discount rate. The noon-hour bus took them from the Kitchener bus terminal on Charles Street to the Square One mall.

“We’ll be using it probably every other week,” she said. “We’re thrilled.”

There were 38 people heading to Mississauga on her bus Sunday. It was slightly more than half full, after collecting some passengers in Waterloo.

Driver Alexis Gene said there were about 25 people per bus on Saturday, fewer on Sunday morning.

Commuter service kicks off Monday. The provincial transit service expects its buses will eventually carry 800 to 1,200 passengers a day between this region and Mississauga.

GO buses stop at two Waterloo universities and in Cambridge at Hespeler Road and Highway 401. Other park-and-ride sites are planned.

The buses do not go directly to Toronto.

On weekday mornings, two buses take passengers to the Milton GO station, where trains leave for Union Station. Kitchener to Union Station takes up to two hours, 12 minutes.

Most GO buses end at the Square One transit terminal. This trip takes up to one hour, 22 minutes.

Buses are pitched as a precursor to GO trains, which are under consideration for this region.

Bruce Norgren is happy to see GO service arrive and would be thrilled to see trains extended here. He drives to the Milton GO station, on his daily commute from Waterloo to downtown Toronto.

But he does not plan to ride the GO buses to Milton.

That’s because there’s no parking where passengers are collected, and because his current commute would get even longer, perhaps by an hour or more per day.

“For the five-day-a-week working commuter, this schedule just does not work. It adds extra time,” Norgren said. He sees GO buses as catering to students and casual travellers.

Sunday bus passengers Graham Goulet and Ana Perunicic said they too would prefer trains over buses.

“It may be faster,” said Perunicic. She was taking the GO bus to visit a library in Mississauga.

jouthit@therecord.com

yyzman · #**363** Posted **Dec 2, 2009, 6:12 PM**

I'm hearing great feedback from GO being in the region.
Take into consideration, when GO expanded service out of U of Guelph, a lot of the buses were running empty for over a year.
At the moment and only one month into the service i hear passenger numbers are steady and climbing.

yyzman · #**364** Posted **Dec 2, 2009, 6:13 PM**

570newsradio Greyhound Canada announced it will reduce bus service in southwestern Ontario, including Kitchener and Stratford to curb financial losses.

Could this mean additional service from GO in the near future?

taylortbb · #**365** Posted **Dec 2, 2009, 7:09 PM**

I'm not certain these cuts have anything to do with GO:

http://www.570news.com/more.jsp?cont...02_130303_7272

Quote:

Toronto - Greyhound Canada has announced it will reduce bus service in Guelph, Kitchener and Stratford next year to curb financial losses.

The changes will take effect on January 17th.

Trips from Guelph to Elora, Mount Forest, Durham, Chatsworth and Owen Sound will be eliminated.

And trips from Kitchener to London through Stratford and St. Mary's will be reduced from 2 trips a day to 1.

570 News contacted Greyhound about the changes, but the company refused to comment.

They don't say anything about cutting service on Waterloo to Toronto runs, which is what GO serves.

mpd618 · #**366** Posted **Dec 2, 2009, 10:36 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by yyzman

Could this mean additional service from GO in the near future?

Considering how difficult it already is schedule-wise to get between Kitchener and London by bus or train, I wouldn't be surprised if GO eventually steps up to the plate to offer this service.

garthdanlor · #**367** Posted **Dec 3, 2009, 7:24 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by taylortbb

I'm not certain these cuts have anything to do with GO:

http://www.570news.com/more.jsp?cont...02_130303_7272

They don't say anything about cutting service on Waterloo to Toronto runs, which is what GO serves.

I doubt they would be cutting any KW - Toronto Greyhound runs. I've been taking this route to Toronto a couple of times each week recently, and the buses are usually running fairly close to capacity even at off-peak hours, and numerous times they have even had to add extra buses. My main gripe with Greyhound is that too many of the Kitchener to Toronto runs go via Guelph and it becomes a 2 hour journey!

yyzman · #**368** Posted **Dec 9, 2009, 2:06 AM**

Rumour!
Double Deckers will be in the region very soon.
The buses fit everywhere on route except Kitchener Terminal.

#**369** Posted **Dec 9, 2009, 2:16 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by yyzman

Rumour!
Double Deckers will be in the region very soon.
The buses fit everywhere on route except Kitchener Terminal.

Have you been told which route they'll be used for? (my guess is either route 7 or iXpress)

gghtransit · #**370** Posted **Dec 9, 2009, 3:14 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by yyzman

Rumour!
Double Deckers will be in the region very soon.
The buses fit everywhere on route except Kitchener Terminal.

I'll believe it when I see it, the Manulife Building Overpass at Charles Street seems to me to be one crossing that may not work.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cambridgite

Have you been told which route they'll be used for? (my guess is either route 7 or iXpress)

Not for GRT, we're not getting double-deckers, the "rumour" (note quotations) is related to GO Transit service hence it being posted in the GO Transit thread.

DHLawrence · #**371** Posted **Dec 9, 2009, 3:26 AM**

They could easily drive on King Street--no Manulife overpasses there. And they could use one of the on-street stops at the Charles Street Terminal--another clearance problem solved.

And I don't see the need for the

icon. He's just reporting what he heard.

gghtransit · #**372** Posted **Dec 9, 2009, 5:22 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by DHLawrence

And I don't see the need for the

icon. He's just reporting what he heard.

It's not directed at him, it's directed at the rumour itself. I don't see how that wasn't clear.

kitchener-lrt · #**373** Posted **Dec 9, 2009, 8:49 PM**

I'd rather have increased frequency than double deckers, but I'll gradly take DD's on route 25!

taylortbb · #**374** Posted **Dec 9, 2009, 9:14 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by gghtransit

I'll believe it when I see it, the Manulife Building Overpass at Charles Street seems to me to be one crossing that may not work.

yyzman has been pretty reliable in the past with info on GO. He told us the details of the schedule before GO had announced it. It seems odd to me to not just increase frequency, but I'll give him the benefit of the doubt on this one.

mpd618 · #**375** Posted **Dec 10, 2009, 2:05 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by kitchener-lrt

I'd rather have increased frequency than double deckers, but I'll gradly take DD's on route 25!

Increased frequency would be good, but until the schedule is officially changed, I think it makes sense to use double deckers instead of two buses for times when more capacity is needed.

Bureaucromancer · #**376** Posted **Dec 10, 2009, 10:07 PM**

I wonder if the DD rumours might indicate another route to Waterloo from the 407 services? Possibly something originating at York, hitting Brampton, Guelph and Kitchener, or maybe an extension of the Guelph bus (which also runs from Square One)? Somehow I have a hard time seeing them making sense on Square One - Milton - Waterloo, especially when they are still more or less limited to the routes West from York.

Actually, what strikes me on second thought is that DDs could make sense if the Georgetown trainbuses were extended to Kitchener, which makes a lot of sense but for the more direct competition with Greyhound.

Duke-Of-Waterloo · #**377** Posted **Dec 11, 2009, 1:23 AM**

/\ Something will probably come out of GTA West as it follows that York-Guelph corridor, but when that will happen and this EA can get its priorities straight is beyond me.

Bureaucromancer · #**378** Posted **Dec 11, 2009, 4:41 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Duke-Of-Waterloo

/\ Something will probably come out of GTA West as it follows that York-Guelph corridor, but when that will happen and this EA can get its priorities straight is beyond me.

If I had to guess I'd say we'll get a recommendation for a 3 lane direction expressway, with 1 HOV lane per direction, plus room in the corridor for rail should it ever be desired, along with NO funding commitment. Frankly, I don't see that study going anywhere.

plam · #**379** Posted **Dec 11, 2009, 11:32 AM**

I can see the double-deckers making sense for route 25. For instance on Friday afternoons, I've observed 3 GO buses lining up at UW. On the other hand, when I took the GO bus at 7:30 am on a weekday, there were only about a dozen people.

(I'm in Darmstadt this week. It has a population of 140k and a sizeable tram network...)

rapid_business · #**380** Posted **Dec 11, 2009, 4:21 PM**

/\ That is Germany for you.