GO Transit

[81-717]

25 minutes ago, Gil said:

They chose the “T in a circle” exactly because it’s so prevalent around the world that it would be almost universally recognized.  They had settled on a T and had workshopped the design of it.

This is the only "T in a circle" that I acknowledge 

[Ed T.]

I am trying to figure out if I can get to Ballantrae, which is at the corner of Highway 48 and Aurora Rd, by transit.

GO route map does not show any routes going up Highway 48, however when I was there yesterday I saw a GO double-decker roll through northbound. What did I see? An out of service bus?

I suppose the alternative is to get to Stoufville GO and get a ride from there, whether YRT or something else.

[H4 5600]

32 minutes ago, Ed T. said:

I am trying to figure out if I can get to Ballantrae, which is at the corner of Highway 48 and Aurora Rd, by transit.

GO route map does not show any routes going up Highway 48, however when I was there yesterday I saw a GO double-decker roll through northbound. What did I see? An out of service bus?

I suppose the alternative is to get to Stoufville GO and get a ride from there, whether YRT or something else.

It looks like you can request a YRT on-request ride to Ballantrae from the Stouffvile GO station on weekdays. Note that it looks like there is no on-request service from 2-7 PM.

[yrt1000]

1 hour ago, Ed T. said:

I am trying to figure out if I can get to Ballantrae, which is at the corner of Highway 48 and Aurora Rd, by transit.

GO route map does not show any routes going up Highway 48, however when I was there yesterday I saw a GO double-decker roll through northbound. What did I see? An out of service bus?

I suppose the alternative is to get to Stoufville GO and get a ride from there, whether YRT or something else.

The GO bus was probably deadheading somewhere. Like maybe Uxbridge or East Gwillimbury

[Ed T.]

I find it odd that GO does not run up to Sutton, and they gave up on Beaverton. Perhaps there is local service of some kind.

In any case, I think I can meet the party I am dealing with in Stoufville as we have to go to Service Ontario anyway, and I imagine there's one there.

[yrt1000]

1 hour ago, Ed T. said:

I find it odd that GO does not run up to Sutton, and they gave up on Beaverton. Perhaps there is local service of some kind.

Those routes were replaced with routes by the local agencies. The 69 Sutton Go transit route is now YRTs 50 Queensway and was replaced about 12 years ago. The former GO route 81 Beaverton is also now serviced by a Durham Region Transit route, and that changed about a year ago. Plus I’m pretty sure both regions also offer some sort of dial-a-ride service in those townships too

[G.A]

I saw on the Metrolinx bids and tenders that they had put out a tender for six Cutaway style buses. Are they planning on running some sort of micro service or on demand?

[T3G]

18 hours ago, Gil said:

They chose the “T in a circle” exactly because it’s so prevalent around the world that it would be almost universally recognized.  They had settled on a T and had workshopped the design of it.

The fact that they have the T on their maintenance facilities seems counter productive to whatever goal they had in mind with it.

[Chris W]

1 hour ago, G.A said:

I saw on the Metrolinx bids and tenders that they had put out a tender for six Cutaway style buses. Are they planning on running some sort of micro service or on demand?

Honestly it wouldn't surprise me if they did plan some kind of OnDemand/Microtransit service. Perhaps they'll be moving the soon to be former Commuter Connect Northumberland service in house?

[GTAmissions1]

On 7/22/2024 at 2:16 PM, G.A said:

I saw on the Metrolinx bids and tenders that they had put out a tender for six Cutaway style buses. Are they planning on running some sort of micro service or on demand?

This is for the Transit Procurement Initiative or TPI for short. Not intended for Go Transit which the listing states 6 to 8 metre gasoline specialized transit buses.

[Xtrazsteve]

15 hours ago, GTAmissions1 said:

This is for the Transit Procurement Initiative or TPI for short. Not intended for Go Transit which the listing states 6 to 8 metre gasoline specialized transit buses.

TTC buys wheel-trans bus with these TPIs

[Kumiko Oumae]

I saw a ADL Enviro500 at Centennial College on route 41 HAMILTON-PICKERING today wrapped for Toronto Caribbean Festival. Can anyone identify the unit?

[G.A]

1 hour ago, Kumiko Oumae said:

I saw a ADL Enviro500 at Centennial College on route 41 HAMILTON-PICKERING today wrapped for Toronto Caribbean Festival. Can anyone identify the unit?

Could be 8508. It was wrapped last year. I wonder if it kept the same wrap.

 

[TDE]

2 hours ago, Kumiko Oumae said:

I saw a ADL Enviro500 at Centennial College on route 41 HAMILTON-PICKERING today wrapped for Toronto Caribbean Festival. Can anyone identify the unit?

 

 From the Today's Sightings thread:

On 7/24/2024 at 3:05 PM, KawarthaTransiteer said:

GO 8508 on route 88 with a wrap for the Caribana

 

[Bessarion]

Not sure if this has been posted but coaches 2448 and 2455 have been converted to bike coaches. 
 

Saw them on the Niagara Falls train today hooked up to locomotive 617 and cab car 354 

[FutureHeartsJunkie]

I was meaning to post this, but - later this summer, some of the station counters that currently stand at the GO Stations will be repurposed/converted to "information hubs" that feature details on how to plan for your trip (along with tips related to your travel) along with local information relevant to the station. There will still be station ambassdors who will still be roaming around the station if you require further assistance.

 

Final Takeaway: While the new "station ambassador" model at the stations is now the "reality" thesedays (as the old saying goes, "life must go on"), the only problem is: how will the elderly (or those with disabilities or even those "slow to adapt with technology") be able to buy tickets, or even reload their PRESTO Cards - for example?

[TTC7447]

1 hour ago, FutureHeartsJunkie said:

I was meaning to post this, but - later this summer, some of the station counters that currently stand at the GO Stations will be repurposed/converted to "information hubs" that feature details on how to plan for your trip (along with tips related to your travel) along with local information relevant to the station. There will still be station ambassdors who will still be roaming around the station if you require further assistance.

 

Final Takeaway: While the new "station ambassador" model at the stations is now the "reality" thesedays (as the old saying goes, "life must go on"), the only problem is: how will the elderly (or those with disabilities or even those "slow to adapt with technology") be able to buy tickets, or even reload their PRESTO Cards - for example?

Easy (and already seen in other similar settings):

As the post states, the station ambassadors will be roaming the station.  Someone requiring help could approach the station ambassador to ask for help, or attentive station ambassadors may take the initiative to approach customers to offer help.  They could assist those requiring help with using the kiosks/TVMs to purchase tickets or reload PRESTO Cards.  I already see this at some TTC stations, and other places that have self-service options like an IKEA Swedish Bistro, and even at the airport (when the regular check-in desk is backed up).  Just like with most other self-service options, I would assume that station ambassadors have access to some sort of back-up option if the TVMs or what have you aren't sufficient enough.

[Bessarion]

Pictures of the converted bike coaches for anyone who is interested. 

[G.A]

27 minutes ago, Bessarion said:

Pictures of the converted bike coaches for anyone who is interested. 

 

That's different. The ones I've been on have a 3 rack set.

[New Flyer]

58 minutes ago, G.A said:

That's different. The ones I've been on have a 3 rack set.

They also didn't have those 2 seats beside the door. Only the 3 in the middle shown at the back of that picture.

[via_foamer]

On 7/21/2024 at 8:30 PM, Gil said:

They chose the “T in a circle” exactly because it’s so prevalent around the world that it would be almost universally recognized.  They had settled on a T and had workshopped the design of it.

In Toronto the TTC keystone sign is probably more recognizable and iconic for locals
at least now there's a unified sign for transit (even if it's only for Metrolinx-funded projects)

[FutureHeartsJunkie]

Sorry if this hasn't been posted yet - but the CNE (Canadian National Exhibition) in Toronto starts for another season this week - to symoblize the end of the summer. With that, GO Transit is increasing it's service along the Lakeshore West line with the following trains during the weekdays (when the CNE is in session):

From Oakville GO to Union Station (with a stop at Exhibition GO):
4:44 p.m, 5:14pm, 5:45pm, 6:15pm, 6:45pm, 9:51pm, 10:21pm

From Union Station (with a stop at Exhibition GO) to Oakville:
8:32pm, 9:02pm, 9:34pm, 10:02pm, 10:34pm, 11:02pm, 11:32pm

For the Lakeshore East train line however, it is a different story:

• A new westbound train will depart from Durham College Oshawa GO at 5:25pm, arriving at Union Station at 6:27pm. From there, you can connect with the Lakeshore West GO train departing Union at 6:55pm and you will arrive at Exhibition GO at 7:03pm.
• Eastbound Trains departing Union Station at 10:05pm and 10:35pm will make all stops to Durham College Oshawa GO.

Final Takeaways: While the CNE definitely symbolizes the end of the summer, checking out the CNE is definitely a way to check out the summer tradition in Toronto. It's not just the locals who will benefit - even newcomers, tourists (either travelling for business or pleasure) would definitely check out the CNE.

I remembered the time that GO used to run special trains during the Labour Day weekend on all train lines (except the Richmond Hill GO Train line and the Kitchener GO Train line terminated at Georgetown (if i'm not mistaken) back in the days) to/from the CNE (there's also a time in which the extra service also "ties in" with other events unrelated to the CNE as well) back in the days. Nowadays, people who wanted to commute to/from the CNE on a weekend (who use the GO Train lines other than the Lakeshore East/West lines) - will need to connect at Union Station.

Further reading: https://www.gotransit.com/en/partners-and-promotions/event-go-to-the-cne

[KawarthaTransiteer]

Also for the Ex, the run times on both Lakeshore West and Lakeshore East are being lengthened by 3-9 minutes weekday afternoons and evenings, and all day on weekends. This means that some trips on routes 11, 15, 18, and 88 that have a connection from the train will leave later to accommodate the train schedule. Also, some express trains on Lakeshore West will be stopping at Exhibition. Additionally the last trip of the night from West Harbour and Oshawa will run all week long instead of just on Fridays and Saturdays.

[FutureHeartsJunkie]

1 hour ago, KawarthaTransiteer said:

Also for the Ex, the run times on both Lakeshore West and Lakeshore East are being lengthened by 3-9 minutes weekday afternoons and evenings, and all day on weekends. This means that some trips on routes 11, 15, 18, and 88 that have a connection from the train will leave later to accommodate the train schedule. Also, some express trains on Lakeshore West will be stopping at Exhibition. Additionally the last trip of the night from West Harbour and Oshawa will run all week long instead of just on Fridays and Saturdays.

Still on-topic about the Ex, I remembered one time that the GO Train stations used to sell those early-bird CNE tickets at a discounted rate. When the CNE takes place, you can still buy them but at regular gate prices. Nowadays, that practice has since been stopped but at least you can still buy the CNE tickets online and (until this Thursday) get those "gift card style" tickets at certain grocery stores.

[GTAmissions1]

Go Transit service changes effective August 31st. No changes to train service, only bus service which only the more important ones are noted below:

• New limited 25A express route running between Square One-WLU/University of Waterloo with a stop at the Milton Carpool at Hwy 401/25.
• New limited 30E direct express service running between Bramalea GO-WLU/University of Waterloo.
• New 41B service running from McMaster U, non stop to Square One, then stops at Bramalea GO, Hwy 407, Richmond Hill Centre, Consumers Rd, Scarborough Centre, and Centennial College. Replaces some 47D trips, although that route itself still runs in combination with 41B between McMaster-Hwy 407.
• New 41D service running from Bramalea GO-Centennial College with stops at Hwy 407 and Consumers Rd
• New 52A between Ontario Tech University/Durham College-Highway 407 Terminal 

Some bus route PDF schedules have the new redesigned graphics while others are still with the old version of graphics.

Final comments:

Service changes are mostly to adjust to post-secondary institutions and looking at this batch of service changes, it is also trying to provide more express service with limited stops to get from Point A to B faster.