GO Transit Policy Specifically Punishes Toronto

 In a previous blog post, I spoke about how the lack of GO bus stops on rail-replacement routes within the City of Toronto was one of the most significant examples of downtown-centrism in our region transit system. Recently, I was thinking about how other GO Transit policies punish passengers taking trips within Toronto that aren't downtown. In this blog post, I will provide a few examples of how GO Transit prioritizes downtown--suburban trips at the expense of numerous others.

Transfer Barriers

I won't rehash his article, but Sean Marshall recently wrote about how the new One Fare removes only one of a number of barriers between TTC and GO Transit. Because the TTC network was built around the subway system, connections to GO stations tend to be pretty poor. Considering that GO stations were built with a parking focus, transferring to connecting bus routes can be a pain. Sean gives examples of Old Cummer and Etobicoke North, which are two stations on major arterial roads, with major bus routes, that have extremely inefficient transfers. 

Toronto's suburbs do not have this problem, as their networks were relatively young when GO began service, and could easily be modified to feed to GO stations. The arrangement further grew local transit service. Oakville, for example, has their entire network based out of Oakville GO (and, to a lesser extent, Bronte GO), which allows for convenient transfers from GO to local transit. Only one GO station in Toronto, Rouge Hill, features a bus loop, and this is owned by TTC.

While there have been some examples of better planning, like at Milliken GO as Sean mentions, these efforts have limited impact, especially as integrating TTC service is evidently not a priority for GO Transit.

Station Renovations

Recently, some suburban GO stations have had large renovations that include new bus terminals for integrating local transit. Bramalea GO, in Brampton, and Cooksville GO, in Mississauga, now feature large bus terminals that makes transfers between rail and road extremely easy. Toronto stations, however, rarely feature renovations, and they look very similar to how they did in the 1960s. While many suburban GO stations feature large canopies on platforms in both directions of travel, Danforth has half of a canopy on the Oshawa-bound side, and none at all on the Union-bound side.

When Toronto stations get renovated, they improve walking and cycling access, but transit access is ignored. Take the new works at Long Branch. There is no work being done to move TTC's Long Branch Loop west towards the GO station, even if they are less than 200 meters apart currently, and a new terminal would be built on land owned by GO Transit anyways.

Fare Issues

While the One-Fare program is a good step, GO fares are still very unfair. As Sean Marshall wrote in 2015, GO trips within Toronto are very expensive compared to those outside of the city. While GO did reduce fares for trips under 10 kilometers in 2019, trips fully within Toronto beyond that (up to 40km), are still expensive, and it does not make GO Transit competitive for many. While many customers in Toronto who cross the city daily could, and should, be accommodated on the GO train, poor fare structures make TTC the only choice, even if the TTC takes much longer.

GO asks a lot of TTC

GO Transit recently updated their GO Rail Access Plan in 2023, which lays out station-specific needs in terms of access. I think the document is important, but it is a bit shallow. The older edition, which is no longer available online, had a bit more depth, but what GO asked from TTC was not balanced with what it asked from other agencies. 

Despite GO siting stations at poor locations unless one is driving, they have asked TTC to provide service to nearby areas. In the sections for Etobicoke North, Weston, Mimico, and Guildwood, GO explicitly asked TTC to add new routes between the GO station and nearby residential areas. This led to the creation of the 176 Mimico GO, but TTC has not added routes for the other stations, which makes sense since the ridership potential is extremely limited.

TTC's only GO shuttle. Funnily enough, since the start of COVID, TTC is now the only agency with a GO station-oriented shuttle, despite being the last to provide this service.

However, despite YRT poorly serving their stations, GO did not ask anything from YRT to improve access. There was not even a mention of a route between Gormley GO and some nearby subdivisions, nor were there asks to improve transit when the Stouffville and Barrie lines become all-day, every-day services. GO has given TTC no reason to improve service to stations, yet still asks for a disproportionate number of new services relative to other areas.

'Downtown' is more than just Union Station

GO trains operate to and from downtown Toronto's Union Station. However, downtown Toronto is quite large, and for many trips, the subway makes a lot more sense. GO's definition of downtown is so narrow, it ignores large parts of the even the core. As many have suggested, GO should add more stations close to downtown. There is a secondary benefit here: if there is a security concern at Union, people can still get down. Sure, being dropped off at Spadina and Fort York, or Sherbourne and the Esplanade is a bit annoying, it is much better than no access because Canada's largest rail station is incapacitated.

Conclusion

As can be seen, GO Transit does not consider trips in Toronto outside of the downtown core important. Despite efforts to improve access in terms of fares, barriers between TTC and GO still exist, and will continue to exist until GO recognizes that there is more to Toronto than just downtown. Whether that will happen is yet to be seen.