On Mass Transit

[dewline]

Call this an infrastructure rant.

I had a look at the system map of GO Transit this morning.

I got curious, partly because of these facts: I use OC Transpo here in Ottawa every day to get from point to point for whatever reasons matter most at a given moment, and most of my intercity travelling - what little there is of it right now - is done through VIA Rail. I've therefore become a public transit supporter and a bit of a railfan as well.

So I'm starting to wonder why, given the extent of real estate served by GO Transit these days, as well as the fact that it's being once again funded by the provincial government of Ontario...why not extend the network to cover the whole province, and thereby provide true intercity bus and rail transit to cities in Ontario not currently served by VIA Rail?

I don't see why we should settle for GO Transit confining itself to the area bounded by Oshawa, Barrie, Guelph and Hamilton.

Comments

[madlycool.livejournal.com]

GO is mass commuter rail, mainly, between Toronto and its suburbs, the kind of transit VIA Rail doesn't do. It's essentially an extended municipal transit system. And there already is VIA and bus companies doing the other stuff. Not sure what would be gained, except transferring financial responsibility for VIA from the federal government to the province, and disrupting connections outside the province (notably, for Ottawa and Toronto, to Montreal). Montreal itself also has a commuter rail system.

GO is only partially funded by the province, unlike before the Harris government, where it was totally funded by the province (aside from fares). Essentilly it's a substitute for building more roads in and out of Toronto. The province also partially funds municipal transit (such as OC Transpo), but contributes almost nothing to the TTC (again, thanks to Harris).

[(Anonymous)]

Several additional thoughts:

I'm not entirely comfy with dependence on buses exclusively for intercity transit.

Until the Harperites get removed in an election, I don't see much hope for VIA service being restored to a lot of Ontario communities that used to have it.

I really need to dig up that issue of Trains that focused on VIA's 25th anniversary. It had a map of all the routes that VIA's operated on over the years since it was chartered, and my suspicion abides that it would appall just about anyone who gives a hoot about this subject.

As to the current arrangement between the province and the cities served by GO, I thought I understood that to be in transition. No?

[madlycool.livejournal.com]

No idea about future finances - everyone makes promises, but no one wants to commit. Why is the McGuinty government taking so long to untangle the mess Harris (and Flaherty...) created?

The trouble is passenger rail hardly owns any tracks, so they're dependent on CP and CN (whatever they call themselves these days) - they even kept the hotels passenger rail built. So, the tracks aren't kept in good condition for passengers, literally get pushed aside for freight, and CN/CP have abandoned so many routes. At the same time, rail is expensive and inflexible, so restoring things like the Peterboro-Toronto route is mindboggling - the traffic in and out of Pontypool can't be that high. As popular as GO Transit is, it's only recently that it has moved more people than the single King Street Streetcar in Toronto.

I'd like rail to my hometown, but to build tracks and buy engines to service 5 people an hour, or a train or two a day, just isn't economical. People don't want to spend all day travelling on trains that stop at every little hamlet.

Real intercity trains these days means building high-speed trains between large cities, like Toronto-Montreal, where you can cut travel time from 5 hours to 2.5, where you're dealing with hundreds of passengers (and aren't waiting in airports all day).

[dewline.livejournal.com]

Paragraph two suggests that it's time rail users got our lobbying act together, more so that we already have at least...

On McGuinty

[dewline.livejournal.com]

I saw in today's Toronto Star - I really should take out a subscription to that paper and stop wasting time with newsstands - a columnist comparing him to Bill Davis in terms of "incrementalism". Behaviour that, in a battle against everything from poverty to climate derangement, the columnist was less than thrilled with.

I suspect, though, that our current premier would wear such a tag of "incrementalist" with real, heartfelt pride.

Not sure I'd want him to do that, but there it is.

On CN and CPR

[dewline.livejournal.com]

They still call themselves by those initials, last I checked...and you're right about the trackage rights bottleneck you described. It's one of the biggest headaches of the current arrangement, no matter what kind of passenger rail setup we're willing to agree upon.

[orleans.livejournal.com]

GO trains are insanely expensive. A monthly pass to go from Mississagua to Toronto is nearly $250 a month. That's probably not much further than Kanata to Orleans, to put that in perspective. I don't think we want that here.

[dewline.livejournal.com]

You're absolutely right about the price tag involved, Jeff. OY!

[thebitterguy]

Nearly if you deduct $80. It's $171 a month from Clarkson to Union.

Plus it does qualify for the transit rebate.

A monthly pass from Milton to Union Station is $250, but considering that's what I'd spend on diesel in my Smart if I made that trip everyday (without the added cost of parking), it's not that bad a cost.

[orleans.livejournal.com]

I may have been looking at the non-central stations there as I'm not overly familar with the area. I do remember being surprised at the high cost when I checked it out a while ago.

I'm surprised the Smart doesn't have better fuel mileage considering it's small weight and size. :O Honda Civic Hybrid is better in that regard and it's a real car that's suitable for a Ottawa winter.

[thebitterguy]

Actually, I miscalculated. It would be about twice the cost of gas for a straight trip with no traffic.

[mencc1701.livejournal.com]

This is, of course, partly because GO still has to use an outdated diesel locomotive-powered train, which is by far the most expensive type of rail transit, especially for intraurban travel. They really need to have electrified lines and start running EMUs, which would probably both bring down cost and increase frequency of trips.

[dewline.livejournal.com]

I wonder how closely they're looking at upgrading the engine cars of their fleet at the moment.

[mencc1701.livejournal.com]

I believe they've purchased newer, more efficient diesel locomotives, and there is a plan on the books to electrify the Lakeshore line before 2020, but I don't know if any funding has come through for that, yet.

[dewline.livejournal.com]

That's something I'd be interested in keeping an eye on for the future, right along with the OC Transpo plans here at home.