[OT] Public Transit

[marthter]

On 10-10-28 05:00 PM, Evan Leibovitch wrote:
> On 27 October 2010 13:51, Lennart Sorensen 
> <lsorense-1wCw9BSqJbv44Nm34jS7GywD8/FfD2ys at public.gmane.org <mailto:lsorense-1wCw9BSqJbv44Nm34jS7GywD8/FfD2ys at public.gmane.org>> 
> wrote:
>
>     > Brilliance: GO Transit, easily one of the best suburban commuter
>     rail
>     > systems on the continent
>
>     It is absolutely awful.  The line up through weston may become
>     great now
>     that they are resignaling it (after buying it instead of leasing
>     access
>     to the line), so that they can run trains more than every 30 minutes.
>     Now if they will run more frequent service and both ways
>     throughout the
>     day, then it can start to be considered a good train system.  As it is
>     it is probably the worst train system I have ever seen.
>
>
> They work with what they have. Unlike in Europe and Japan, commuter 
> rail here has always had to deal with limtations of working with and 
> alongside freight-train lines. GO is trying to increase capacity to 
> the Georgetown line to give that northwest service similar capacity 
> and times to the lakeshore line. But neighborhood opposition in Weston 
> has impeded progress.
>
> In any case, there are not trainfuls of commuters going from downtown 
> to Markham in the morning, so there is bus service from Union station, 
> but now that area is best served by GO bus service to Finch station, 
> York University and Scarborough Centre (and will soon be complemented 
> by a VIVA LRT on highway 7). It's nice to see GO taking advantage of 
> highway 407 from Oshawa to Hamilton, as an alternative to going 
> through downtown. In some cases, fares for service on that line are 
> less than the 407 tolls alone (or so it seems).
>
> Its also in other areas -- payment methods, station upgrades, other 
> intangibles and even car design -- where I think GO does very well.
>
There's one, PAYMENT METHODS, where the TTC is still in the 1950s.  Try 
using a credit or debit card to buy a roll of tokens at a TTC collection 
booth... [game show sound effect] wah wah waaaah [/game show sound 
effect]. Sorry, no can do.  Cash only.  And try asking for a receipt for 
that.  They'll give you a little slip from a pad of paper where the 
collector writes (illegibly) their employee number, the date, and the 
amount.  Well anyway, you've woken them up from their snooze, so what do 
you expect.

Martin

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