Ugh, this is so depressing.
The GO Transit electrification project was one of the most promising projects in Toronto with the potential to transform the GTA for the better.
This was supposed to be the electrification of the GO Transit network with 15-minute (or less) all-day trains in each direction. Now that goal seems basically impossible.
I think this is the most infuriating segment.
Commuter rail fucking sucks! We shouldn't be building trains that only run into the city in the morning and back out to suburbia in the afternoon!
We shouldn't be building trains for car drivers, we should be building transit for all people so that they don't even need cars in the first place! 🤦♂️
Three years ago I made a video on the insanity of GO Transit and the idea of "commuter rail" in general.
It looks like nothing is going to substantially change in Toronto, and the end of this video was wishful thinking.
People get so pissed off at me when I'm negative about the future of Canadian cities, but between this and tearing out bike lanes, they're not providing me with much evidence to the contrary.
https://nebula.tv/videos/not-just-bikes-the-trains-that-subsidize-suburbia-go-transit-commuter-rail
Doug Ford is the worst thing to happen to Ontario since Mike Harris, and we're still living with the consequences of him.
Canadian here in Victoria, BC.
Bike lanes get push back every time as do dedicated bus lanes. And yet, we complain about traffic!
We spend too little, are to slow to address the issues, and don't really want to fund public transportation. But traffic!
@notjustbikes I always used ‘commuter rail’ as the English translation for what is roughly ‘suburban rail’ but your post here is making me rethink it
For example I always called the October Railway within Saint Petersburg and the greater NW region ‘commuter rail’ since it runs 6-8 carriage, 3+3-a-row seat EMUs with operating distances of up to 150 km and travel times of up to 3 hours, and like back in my home country, these are used by commuters (bus routes to the stations, train to the city and the metro system — they do not have any park and ride facilities whatsoever) and people who need to get to the city or out of the city throughout the day (starting around 5 and last service being around 24:45)
What would one properly call these?
@mia Those systems would typically be called "regional rail."
Commuter rail is only for commuting: trains that come into the city from the suburbs in the morning, and go out in the afternoon. There's often no service or very very limited service in the other direction.
It's a mind-bogglingly dumb way to run a railway, but it's pretty common in the US and Canada.
@gerbi the "transit is only for commuting" mindset is very strong in Canada, but I had no idea that it was so deeply-embedded in the minds of the people who run the railway.
It's really depressing. 😔
It extends to the mindset around bike infrastructure here, too. Even with whatever concessions we can get, it's still largely designed for people to commute to work and back, when it exists or is designed at all.
Going shopping by bike? That's not a thing. Dropping the kids off at school? Don't make me laugh!
Yet most places still have parking minimums for bars and pubs.
Let that sink in for a moment.
@notjustbikes wow the second paragraph almost made me barf up into my mouth x.X
"Proud ouf the commuter rail service" I'm sure it fill everyone with pride to only run 3 trains a day ✨ 🤮
@notjustbikes I didn't know how returning GO trains worked a few years ago and I found myself stranded once, because I assumed I'd be able to take one back to Toronto at 9pm as trains were still going the other direction. 💀
Pretty annoying to hear I still won't be able to make those kind of trips in the near future, thought it was about time when I heard news of the initial proposal.
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