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Enzo Aquarius

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3 hours ago, FutureHeartsJunkie said:

Hoping that these new developments - won't impact certain special events like (incl. but not ltd. to) the CNE (Canadian National Exhibition), FanExpo - among other events in terms of the ridership.. 

That raises an interesting question.  Everyone's reporting about the 93% strike mandate but I haven't come across anything that says what the strike deadline is when the union withdraws labour if an agreement has not been reached.  Cancellations due to illness are pretty much down to what can be run with the people on hand but the possibility of a strike is really up to the negotiating teams from ATU and Metrolinx hashing something out in a hotel conference room somewhere.

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13 hours ago, Wayside Observer said:

That raises an interesting question.  Everyone's reporting about the 93% strike mandate but I haven't come across anything that says what the strike deadline is when the union withdraws labour if an agreement has not been reached.  Cancellations due to illness are pretty much down to what can be run with the people on hand but the possibility of a strike is really up to the negotiating teams from ATU and Metrolinx hashing something out in a hotel conference room somewhere.

Hold on, I think that you're conflating two different problems.

 

The ATU strike mandate is for the station attendants, bus drivers, etc. They have not yet given a strike deadline. And while yes, COVID has been a problem here, their staffing levels have been high enough that there haven't been a huge rash of cancellations.

 

The cancellations due to illness are on the rail side of things, and all of the crews running the trains are employees of Alstom who are then paid to run the trains. They are not subject to this strike mandate, although they are currently in the process of negotiating their own contract with their employer. Staffing levels here have been much tighter, so much so that several dozen trains have been cancelled over the past several weekends due to not enough crews.

 

Dan

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Just In: a fully-wrapped GO bus will be making an appearance at this year's CNE (Canadian National Exhibition) in Toronto. 

The particular bus that will be featured - is not yet known. I'm hoping that one of the newer double-deckers (with seatbelts) that GO has in their fleet - will make an appearance! 

There was a time in which a fully-wrapped D4500 series GO Bus was wrapped with the "Kids GO Free" promo back in 2019 (that same bus made an appearance at the CNE that year). 

Source: https://blog.metrolinx.com/2022/08/16/the-cne-is-back-heres-how-go-transit-can-get-you-there/

 

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On 8/9/2022 at 9:27 AM, smallspy said:

Hold on, I think that you're conflating two different problems.

 

The ATU strike mandate is for the station attendants, bus drivers, etc. They have not yet given a strike deadline. And while yes, COVID has been a problem here, their staffing levels have been high enough that there haven't been a huge rash of cancellations.

 

The cancellations due to illness are on the rail side of things, and all of the crews running the trains are employees of Alstom who are then paid to run the trains. They are not subject to this strike mandate, although they are currently in the process of negotiating their own contract with their employer. Staffing levels here have been much tighter, so much so that several dozen trains have been cancelled over the past several weekends due to not enough crews.

 

Dan

and thats why people hate unions and rightfully so... before they even start heavy negotiations they already push their members to voting for a strike mandate as leverage. union heads are the scum of the earth when it comes to the bargaining table

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5 minutes ago, Ber said:

and thats why people hate unions and rightfully so... before they even start heavy negotiations they already push their members to voting for a strike mandate as leverage. union heads are the scum of the earth when it comes to the bargaining table

Are you sure about that? Anytime a union pushing a “strike mandate” it’s usually after months of internal talks going nowhere, union and management not meeting eye to eye and constant frustration from all on the union side. 

with GO transit and their ATU voting so heavily for a strike that tells you the staff are disgruntled and not happy with the way things are going and they have every right to vote to strike. You can also have a strike mandate vote with no intention of a immediate strike, it’s to show management that ATU operators are not afraid to walk off the job 

as for hating the unions, people can hate all they want but without a strong union you have operators making under 25/hr for what is now considered a skilled trades job. You also don’t get perks like with my agency our contract states we get every 2nd Sunday off.. and that’s something unions do for their members 

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42 minutes ago, Ber said:

and thats why people hate unions and rightfully so... before they even start heavy negotiations they already push their members to voting for a strike mandate as leverage. union heads are the scum of the earth when it comes to the bargaining table

I didn’t know Jimmy Hoffa molested you as a child.

The “bad faith negotiation” knife cuts both ways.    “Lockout” is strike spun around 180 degrees. Enjoy your front row seat at the hunger games. Today’s spectators are tomorrow’s contestants.

31 minutes ago, ZümmyZüm said:

as for hating the unions, people can hate all they want but without a strong union you have operators making under 25/hr for what is now considered a skilled trades job. You also don’t get perks like with my agency our contract states we get every 2nd Sunday off.. and that’s something unions do for their members 

Easy there.
Being a bus operator is a skilled job, requiring a upgraded driver’s licence, but it is not a registered skilled trade.

Being an operator does not require 4 years of training.

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I went to the CNE in Toronto on Saturday (August 20, 2022) and happened to stop by the GO Transit tent down at the CNE midway.

There were some people working at that tent promoting some of the places that you can use for the weekend passes GO has heavily promoted. 

It's not just leisure travellers who wanted to reel in those passes - even business travellers can take advantage of it,  too. 

As for the GO Bus that made an appearance down at the CNE - it was a double decker GO bus wrapped with the promo for the weekend passes. Regrettably, I didn't get a photo of that bus. 

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10 hours ago, Bus_Medic said:

I didn’t know Jimmy Hoffa molested you as a child.

The “bad faith negotiation” knife cuts both ways.    “Lockout” is strike spun around 180 degrees. Enjoy your front row seat at the hunger games. Today’s spectators are tomorrow’s contestants.

Easy there.
Being a bus operator is a skilled job, requiring a upgraded driver’s licence, but it is not a registered skilled trade.

Being an operator does not require 4 years of training.

Very true, skilled trades in the sense it’s more than hammering a nail and thus pays more. Defiantly not at the same level as a 310T 

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I don't know if the modified schedule for the Ex had anything to do with it or whether GO's figured out how to properly run their service, but when bus service on routes 21 and 31 were rerouted to Port Credit on Sunday night both branches of the respective routes were waiting when the train arrived. 

People had gotten so used to having to wait that there was a mad rush for the buses and the drivers had to repeatedly yell "Don't run!  We're waiting for you!".  Once the train had left and they were sure everyone who wanted a connecting bus got one did they signal for the drivers to leave.  The construction along Hurontario made for predicting arrival times tricky. 

Glad to see GO attempt to accommodate the passengers rather than their schedule with this latest detour.  The schedule's gone out the window already, no use trying to force it back into place.  Once the bus reached its first stop I could calculate how long approximately it would take to get to my stop.

In other news, I spotted 2 halves of a GO train seemingly waiting to be coupled together on the Obico sub south of Kipling this morning.  Is this a regular occurrence or a one-off?  Seems odd to be doing that there at that hour as I was catching the last inbound Milton train.

IMG_20220823_0905574.jpg

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6 minutes ago, Gil said:

I don't know if the modified schedule for the Ex had anything to do with it or whether GO's figured out how to properly run their service, but when bus service on routes 21 and 31 were rerouted to Port Credit on Sunday night both branches of the respective routes were waiting when the train arrived. 

People had gotten so used to having to wait that there was a mad rush for the buses and the drivers had to repeatedly yell "Don't run!  We're waiting for you!".  Once the train had left and they were sure everyone who wanted a connecting bus got one did they signal for the drivers to leave.  The construction along Hurontario made for predicting arrival times tricky. 

Glad to see GO attempt to accommodate the passengers rather than their schedule with this latest detour.  The schedule's gone out the window already, no use trying to force it back into place.  Once the bus reached its first stop I could calculate how long approximately it would take to get to my stop.

Go Transit usually tries to schedule bus connections with trains to hold in case of delay. Though with unplanned detours, they usually account a certain amount of time between the nearest terminus point and Union Station. With 407 Terminal to Union Station Bus Terminal, it would be around an hour when I took the 68D would be eliminated from the regular schedule.

I know in 2019 (three years ago), they added an additional bus on the 68 to Barrie to handle the CNE crowds in the evening when I was out. This is along with a supervisor present to determine if they will add the cover bus.

2 minutes ago, newflyerinvero said:

Is it just me, or is it a bit unusual to not have an announcement for September changes by now?

Go Transit says that it should be up by tomorrow morning.

Especially since Labour Day is when they start reducing service. Though, I don't think it will be that massive like they did in the past due to COVID-19. It has been a major complaint that you can't select a trip after x day before the next service change.

Usually, most transit agencies put them out two weeks before the change date. 

 

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3 minutes ago, GTAmissions1 said:

Go Transit says that it should be up by tomorrow morning.

Especially since Labour Day is when they start reducing service. Though, I don't think it will be that massive like they did in the past due to COVID-19. It has been a major complaint that you can't select a trip after x day before the next service change.

Usually, most transit agencies put them out two weeks before the change date. 

GO is more likely to add more service than most agencies. The bus network had a substantial ridership base in post-secondary students, and with those schools now resuming in-class learning, there's going to be a lot of commuters returning. So I would expect a lot of service and trips to be returning to the routes that serve those schools. It's difficult for

The note about schedules not being available for Labour Day weekend is a valid point, as GO starts their board period on Saturdays which means the entire weekend schedule is unavailable. It's 1.5 weeks away (10 days) from the start of the long weekend, and casual users will be making other plans and commitments (not using transit) if they can't figure out the bus/train schedule. GO used to publish their updated schedules about 3 weeks in advance, but lately it's slipped down to 2 weeks (and even less for this one for unknown reasons).

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1 hour ago, Gil said:

I don't know if the modified schedule for the Ex had anything to do with it or whether GO's figured out how to properly run their service, but when bus service on routes 21 and 31 were rerouted to Port Credit on Sunday night both branches of the respective routes were waiting when the train arrived. 

People had gotten so used to having to wait that there was a mad rush for the buses and the drivers had to repeatedly yell "Don't run!  We're waiting for you!".  Once the train had left and they were sure everyone who wanted a connecting bus got one did they signal for the drivers to leave.  The construction along Hurontario made for predicting arrival times tricky. 

Glad to see GO attempt to accommodate the passengers rather than their schedule with this latest detour.  The schedule's gone out the window already, no use trying to force it back into place.  Once the bus reached its first stop I could calculate how long approximately it would take to get to my stop.

In other news, I spotted 2 halves of a GO train seemingly waiting to be coupled together on the Obico sub south of Kipling this morning.  Is this a regular occurrence or a one-off?  Seems odd to be doing that there at that hour as I was catching the last inbound Milton train.

IMG_20220823_0905574.jpg

They could be testing signals. Or are you sure they aren't using the yard for storage?

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13 hours ago, Gil said:

In other news, I spotted 2 halves of a GO train seemingly waiting to be coupled together on the Obico sub south of Kipling this morning.  Is this a regular occurrence or a one-off?  Seems odd to be doing that there at that hour as I was catching the last inbound Milton train.

IMG_20220823_0905574.jpg

Training new crews. They will sometimes go up the Canpa to get them out of the way of service and the hostlers.

 

Dan

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20 minutes ago, J. Hollingsworth said:

Perhaps there’s also delays in the technology front required for the new OnDemand service planned for launch in September to Northumberland

The pilot project is apparently being branded as a separate service/division of Metrolinx, not unlike Presto or UP. So its schedule should not affect the release of the other GO schedules. I don't know what the issue is, but it shouldn't be acceptable to delay releasing new schedules this late, especially given the magnitude of changes that will happen for September and the return of post-secondary classes.

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30 minutes ago, Articulated said:

The pilot project is apparently being branded as a separate service/division of Metrolinx, not unlike Presto or UP. So its schedule should not affect the release of the other GO schedules. I don't know what the issue is, but it shouldn't be acceptable to delay releasing new schedules this late, especially given the magnitude of changes that will happen for September and the return of post-secondary classes.

I agree especially since the Barrie line is closing from the evening of September 9th until end of day September 11th. Trains resuming the morning of September 12th.

Those that normally take a train trip would most likely have to adjust their departure since the entire line would be replaced with buses. Taking much longer and requiring a transfer at either East Gwillimbury or Aurora Go. Somehow, they don't plan on bringing the 68D direct to Union via Highway 400 which would take a bit longer due to traffic, but avoid changing buses just to reach Union Station Bus Terminal. 

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4 hours ago, GTAmissions1 said:

I agree especially since the Barrie line is closing from the evening of September 9th until end of day September 11th. Trains resuming the morning of September 12th.

Those that normally take a train trip would most likely have to adjust their departure since the entire line would be replaced with buses. Taking much longer and requiring a transfer at either East Gwillimbury or Aurora Go. Somehow, they don't plan on bringing the 68D direct to Union via Highway 400 which would take a bit longer due to traffic, but avoid changing buses just to reach Union Station Bus Terminal. 

This has nothing to do with the delays to the release of the schedule. It sucks, and it's a bit of a regular occurrence, but that's about the limit of it.

 

Dan

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Go Transit is reducing the amount of time to activate an e-ticket from one year to one week effective September 6th. E-tickets purchased up until September 5th will be valid for one year including weekend day passes and weekend passes.

Most likely to reduce the amount of unactivated e-tickets in their database and those who purchased a large amount of passes in case the weekend passes get eliminated. Not many systems offer unlimited travel anywhere on their network the size of Go Transit. Especially for $10 for one day or $15 for two days. Three days if it is a long weekend.

 

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Here is an article in BlogTO about GO buses not being able to serve the downtown station. A simple yet complicated solution would be to run more trains. Especially in corridors that they own. This should include the Richmond Hill line to Langstaff or at least to Old Cummer when there is a subway closure on line 1.  I would be willing to pay extra to take the GO train downtown and be able to park my car at the GO station instead of getting on a shuttle bus. 

https://www.blogto.com/city/2022/08/weekend-traffic-go-buses-union/

 

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51 minutes ago, Shaun said:

Here is an article in BlogTO about GO buses not being able to serve the downtown station. A simple yet complicated solution would be to run more trains. Especially in corridors that they own. This should include the Richmond Hill line to Langstaff or at least to Old Cummer when there is a subway closure on line 1.  I would be willing to pay extra to take the GO train downtown and be able to park my car at the GO station instead of getting on a shuttle bus. 

https://www.blogto.com/city/2022/08/weekend-traffic-go-buses-union/

 

I'm not surprised.  I read the article and the comments below and several people are totally right about Saturday.  It was a nightmare.  The Gardiner was jammed.  Lakeshore was jammed with a de-facto loss of a lane due to the right line being the unofficially designated Uber pickup/dropoff lane.  All of downtown was jammed.  My normal 1 hour-ish door to door commute to work took 3.5 hours including finding an alternate place to park.  For that amount of time, if I had gone the other way, I could've driven to work in Windsor including a civilized pit stop at one of the On Routes on the 401 instead of riding the brake pedal and trying to figure out where the closest washroom to the parking lot I was trying to get to was going to be.

I hate to say it but Go Transit was right to kibosh running buses into downtown.  They'd have all driven right smack into total gridlock and gotten stuck eventually leaving no service running.

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They should seriously think about implementing priority bus lanes on the Gardiner for GO buses. They're needed on a daily basis, and especially during the summer. Something along the lines of what is done in Montreal along the Champlain Bridge, with digitized lane signaling. The city owns the Gardiner too, so its not like they'd have to deal with any obstacles from the Provincial government, unless I'm missing something. 

I don't understand why people are okay with the status quo, to have the city jammed up with car traffic every weekend. Like, its not about to get any better and its a lose-lose for everyone involved. I love driving but I hate sitting in traffic. There's already relatively frequent bus service between the 16, 21 and 31, TOK and other providers, so the demand is clearly there and you could arguably make the case for increased frequency if the priority lane really picked up some ridership, but that's kind of self explanatory. Some will argue that you'd create more traffic if you closed off a lane for buses on the Gardiner, but adding a lane for cars wouldn't help, and quite frankly, making things easier for cars just isn't the way to go. 

 

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11 hours ago, Shaun said:

Here is an article in BlogTO about GO buses not being able to serve the downtown station. A simple yet complicated solution would be to run more trains. Especially in corridors that they own. This should include the Richmond Hill line to Langstaff or at least to Old Cummer when there is a subway closure on line 1.  I would be willing to pay extra to take the GO train downtown and be able to park my car at the GO station instead of getting on a shuttle bus. 

https://www.blogto.com/city/2022/08/weekend-traffic-go-buses-union/

 

They don't have enough train crews to run the service they have now. How do you propose they run more trains then?

 

Dan

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1 hour ago, smallspy said:

They don't have enough train crews to run the service they have now. How do you propose they run more trains then?

 

Dan

Do they have enough crew on the weekend (with the other lines not running) to increase service at least between Union and Port Credit when western bus service gets re routed there?  It would at least cut down on the waiting for transfers since they seem intent on maintaining the outbound bus schedules along the rest of routes 21 and 31.

Question about GO Transit policy (are they listed online somewhere?): there's a driver I get on weekend mornings who always makes an announcement before getting onto the highway that GO has a no eating or drinking policy on any of their vehicles or facilities.  I've never heard this mentioned anywhere else and some stations sell food which would be a contravention of that policy unless it was stated you couldn't consume your purchase. 

I've seen the fare enforcement officers walk past people eating but will point out people who have their feet on the seats.  Is this actually one of GO's policies or bylaws or is the driver just trying to keep his bus clean by scaring passengers into compliance? 

(I do have a recording of his announcement but it's too big to attach here)

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