Metrolinx Town Hall, June 24, 2019

Thank you very much for offering your feedback. We're always looking at ways to improve, so we have shared your input forward to see if anything can be done to address this. As you can imagine, we introduce services when and where we can based on a number of factors, including ridership and availability of resources. When we do finalize plans for new services, we are sure to give customers plenty of advance notice.

A new Park Lawn GO station is in the early planning and design stage. The updated Initial Business Case was completed in February 2018, showing the location has positive benefits. In the meantime, Metrolinx and Infrastructure Ontario are working together through the new Transit Oriented Development, Market Driven Strategy to deliver new stations. This means, Metrolinx will partner with Third Parties (e.g. municipalities, land developers, etc) who will fund the design and construction while Metrolinx operates it. Metrolinx requirements will still be met for service, design, construction and consultation etc. while Third Parties will coordinate project design, timing and integration with private development if applicable and subject to agreement. 

We'd be happy to work with our partners at the City of Vaughan on investigating the possibility of adding more temporary parking at Rutherford GO Station. We've already shifted many parking spaces to the temporary lot at 635 Westburne Drive. 

Thank you very much for bringing this to our attention. We have shared this with our enforcement teams. In the future, feel free to contact us at 1-888-438-6646 for customer service or 1-877-297-0642 for safety and security concerns. We'd appreciate learning about which site you're referring to.

Thank you very much for offering your feedback. We are always monitoring our services and modify where it makes sense for the regional network. In the meantime, local transit options are operated by the York Regional Transit and the TTC.

Metrolinx monitors our service carefully to ensure we are making the best use of our resources. We value our customers and we do not make these decisions lightly, in these cases there is not enough demand to justify running the services. 

While we currently do not have plans to bring GO Bus service to the Premium Outlets, we continually assess and monitor ridership to help ensure we are meeting the needs of our customers. At this time, Metrolinx’s top priorities for investment in GO Transit generally involve expanding the quantity and quality of service offered on the existing train and bus network. These investments were selected over potential alternatives in part because of their ability to attract significant ridership by meeting the unmet current demand as well as the planned growth over the next few decades.

For more information about the route changes and alternatives, please click here. 

Metrolinx’s priority is to ensure as many travellers as possible are able to access high-quality transit options. York University GO Station opened in 2002 as a temporary station with the anticipation of future changes to the transit network in the area. Since then, the TTC’s Line 1 extension and Downsview Park GO Station have opened, providing riders with more transit options than ever. 

At this point in time, no decisions have been made on the future of the York University GO Station, however, we continue to monitor and review the station’s usage and ridership. 

With respect to Concord GO, Metrolinx and Infrastructure Ontario are working together through the new Transit Oriented Development, Market Driven Strategy to deliver new stations. This means, Metrolinx will partner with Third Parties (e.g. municipalities, land developers, etc.) who will fund the design and construction while Metrolinx operates it. Metrolinx requirements will still be met for service, design, construction and consultation etc. while Third Parties will coordinate project design, timing and integration with private development if applicable and subject to agreement. 

Thank you for letting us know about your experience. Your comfort is important to us, and we do try to balance passenger loads by adding service or railcars when and where we can. There are many factors that influence this, including available infrastructure, rail traffic and available equipment. In the case of Richmond Hill, platform restrictions limit the length of the trains we're able to operate along the corridor. 

As you may recall, last year we tested Wi-Fi services from two different providers. It was very popular with our customers. We are assessing the results, and we are still very much working toward the goal of providing our customers with Wi-Fi on our GO trains and buses. We will have more details to share with you in the future.

The Caledonia GO Station will be an interchange station with the Caledonia stop on the Eglinton Crosstown LRT.  Caledonia GO Station, a separate project by Metrolinx, is still in the early stages of  planning and design. We’ll follow up with the community once we have a more clear idea of scope and schedule for the project. Mount Dennis Station is on the UP Express line, and Mount Dennis LRT Station is under construction and should be completed on-schedule by 2021 in time for the opening of the Eglinton Crosstown LRT.

Metrolinx and Infrastructure Ontario are working together through the new Transit Oriented Development, Market Driven Strategy to deliver new stations. This means, Metrolinx will partner with Third Parties (e.g. municipalities, land developers, etc.) who will fund the design and construction while Metrolinx operates it. Metrolinx requirements will still be met for service, design, construction and consultation etc. while Third Parties will coordinate project design, timing and integration with private development if applicable and subject to agreement. 

While the 'see schedules' tool on our website is intended to offer simple departure and arrival times for your specific trip, we understand the value in seeing the comprehensive schedules. You can see them here: https://www.gotransit.com/en/trip-planning/seeschedules/full-schedules. In the meantime, we will forward your feedback onto the appropriate team. 

We know that parking is a challenge at stations all across the network, including at Bradford GO Station. That’s why we’re working on design plans to add more parking at Bradford GO. Those plans are still in the early stages of development, but we’ll work collaboratively with customers, stakeholders, and the local community once we have a better idea of how many parking spaces we’re adding. 

We expand our reserved parking program based on demand, and we are always looking at ways to make it more convenient for our customers to take our services. Thank you for sharing your feedback with us. We expect ridership to quadruple when we roll out major service improvements through our GO expansion program. 

We also plan to make some major station improvements at King City GO Station, including more parking spaces in the east lot. We’re currently working on design plans, and construction is expected to start by the end of 2020.  

Increasing parking capacity is one way to manage this growing demand and we will continue to invest in this. However, we know that parking alone will not be able to meet the needs of all the new customers who will be using our service. That's why we're working on improving connections with local transit and making it easier to get to and from our stations using other forms of transportation, like carpooling, cycling, or walking. We will continue working with our regional and municipal partners to look at ways to get customers to and from stations in the most convenient way possible. 

Metrolinx and Lyft are making it easier for riders to get to and from GO Stations through a six-month pilot program. Announced on July 15, the pilot has rolled out at Exhibition, Oakville, Unionville and Bramalea GO Stations. By starting or ending a trip with Lyft at one of these GO Stations, new and existing customers will save $4 on their next five Lyft rides. For more information, visit https://blog.metrolinx.com/2019/07/15/grabbing-a-lyft-to-go/. 

We're building more parking at Maple GO and King City GO. Once those design plans become more fleshed out, we'll let customers and community members know more about what we're building there. We're also currently building a 6-storey parking structure at Rutherford GO Station, which will add 1200 net-new parking spaces to the site. We'll have more details to share about the pilot project very soon.  

Seats
Your comfort is important to us. Admittedly, the reaction of our latest coach seats was mixed. Last summer, we invited customers to test out some new designs at Union Station to help inform in the next generation of GO train seating. We tested several types of seat cushions, headrests and armrests. We’re now reviewing the feedback and hope to have an update shortly. 

Fares
We understand that travel to and from work can be costly, but we believe GO still provides a competitive advantage to the high costs associated with longer-distance car commutes. We’ve grown services by 25 per cent since our last fare increase in September 2017. Sufficient funding is required to maintain and improve the customer experience that you expect and deserve. A significant investment in new infrastructure has been made in order to increase the capacity of the GO Transit system. As this infrastructure is brought into service, additional costs are introduced in order to operate and maintain the new infrastructure. 

When you travel shorter distances on GO Transit, you typically pay a higher price per kilometre than if you travel longer distances. Our recent reduction of fares for short-distance trips help to address that. Admittedly, many of our travellers take longer distance trips. However, with this fare adjustment, we expect more people to take short-distance trips in the future.  

Parking
We are always looking at ways to make it more convenient for our customers to take our services, and we thank you for sharing your feedback with us. We expect ridership to quadruple when we roll out major service improvements through our GO expansion program. Increasing parking capacity is one way to manage this growing demand and we will continue to invest in this. We adjust our reserved parking based on demand, and we try to strike the right balance. However, we know that parking alone will not be able to meet the needs of all the new customers who will be using our service. Thats why we're working on improving connections with local transit and making it easier to get to and from our stations using other forms of transportation, like carpooling, cycling, or walking. We will continue working with our regional and municipal partners to look at ways to get customers to and from stations in the most convenient way possible. To explore other ways to get to and from our stations and what we're doing to help you with that, you can visit gotransit.com/gettingtogo.

1. We add and modify service when and where we can. There are many factors that influence this, including available infrastructure, rail traffic and available equipment. Express service is especially challenging on the Stouffville line with single tracking north of Scarborough GO. Express trains would ulitmately catch up to an all-stops train without a way to bypass. However, we are continuing to expand service on Stouffville line to make taking GO even better, faster and easier. Service on the Stouffville line will include even more frequent service during middays, evenings and weekends. Learn more about our GO Expansion Business Case and stay tuned for more information about this program as we work with the Government of Ontario to deliver it.

2. The Quiet Zone has been very popular with many of our frequent customers, who choose a quiet commute during peak periods. We welcome all customers, in particular families, to travel GO during off-peak periods, including weekends. Our website states rush hour includes all trains arriving or departing Union Station before 9:30 a.m. and all trains leaving or arriving at Union Station between 3 p.m. and 7:30 p.m., Monday to Friday.

Throwing garbage onto our railway property is illegal and it’s also a safety risk for our trains. We have clean-up programs that take place in the spring and fall. In the future, feel free to contact GO Customer Care at 1-888-438-6646. We'd appreciate hearing from you. 

The 2041 Regional Transportation Plan (RTP) is intended to be implemented in phases, in close collaboration with municipal partners, stakeholders and the public. Since our first transportation plan was completed in 2008, we’ve made a substantial investment in new rapid transit and completed a number of projects, including GO Rail extensions, new Bus Rapid Transit lines, UP Express and the Spadina Subway Extension. 

One of the five strategies of the RTP is the development of the Frequent Rapid Transit Network (FRTN), which helps us guide network planning decisions that will help to meet the growth of the region to 2041. Under the FRTN, a number of rapid transit projects are currently in delivery and are planned to open within the next five years, including the Eglinton Crosstown LRT, Finch West LRT, Hamilton LRT and Bus Rapid Transit lines, with another 62 rapid transit projects to be planned and implemented over the next few decades. 

For more information on how the Regional Transportation Plan will be implemented, check out the Making it Happen paper. You can also look for opportunities to participate through Metrolinx Engage. 

The 15 minute tap window is standard across our system and provides enough time for customers to arrive at the station, tap and board before departure. We understand in some cases customers might inadvertently tap outside that window or other operational issues could occur. 

The automated system that processes claims requires certain conditions to be met in order to approve a Service Guarantee. In the scenarios above, the customer would need to request a review by our Contact Centre (1-888-438-6646) for eligibility.
 

At this time, there are no plans to add GO train service to Orangeville.

Metrolinx regularly monitors travel behaviour and markets to identify rising and high potential markets for future GO services. In particular, we monitor all bus routes and rail corridors within the service area for travel patterns and ridership to determine potential service additions and adjustments. 

All service changes take into account broader service planning initiatives. Decisions on specific service changes take into consideration a number of factors including expected ridership, costs, fit with the overall network, and available resources (such as crewing, equipment, and track/platform availability). These decisions are based on a variety of sources, which include travel demand surveys, experience on existing services serving similar markets, feedback from customers, and input from municipal/regional staff. 

Currently, we are focusing on reinforcing our existing service area. However, we will continue to monitor feedback for future consideration.

Metrolinx does not own the entirety of the corridor serving Brampton, but we do work closely with our freight partners to ensure we are using all of the capacity available on the line. Thanks to a stronger working relationship with CN, we have already increased the number of trips on the corridor this year, and we are confident that we can continue to accelerate the delivery of new service to communities all the way along the line. 

Expanding transit services ultimately gives commuters more options and more flexibility in planning their travel and we appreciate people’s patience as we continue to improve GO Transit service across this region.

Thank you very much for bringing this to our attention. We enforce anti-idling by-laws when and where we can; however, in extreme weather, our officers use discretion. We have shared this with our enforcement and signage teams for them to follow up on. In the future, feel free to contact us at 1-888-438-6646 for customer service or 1-877-297-0642 for safety and security concerns. We'd appreciate hearing from you.

We add service when and where we can. There are many factors that influence this, including available infrastructure, rail traffic, available equipment and ridership patterns. On the Richmond Hill corridor, there are a number of unique considerations that make expanding service decidedly more complex. These include:

• flooding in the lower Don River, which affects most of the corridor from Richmond Street to the Millwood Bridge;
• slow journey times due to indirect alignment and low track speeds; 
• CN Rail ownership of the corridor north of Old ------, and conflicts with freight services; and
• proposed parallel transit improvements such as future new lines.

We appreciate your feedback and will continue to seize opportunities to add more service on the Richmond Hill corridor in the years to come.

Thank you for your feedback. You're right, we did remove the printed schedule from locations. With the availability of online trip planning tools, such as Triplinx and gotransit.com, we found reprinting schedules with every service change for every location wasn't the best use of resources. You can find full schedule information at gotransit.com/fullschedules. To find what routes are available to you, you can look up your stop online to find the "station page." For real-time bus service information, you can use our "Where's my bus" service with your phone. We also have digital signage at every GO train station, and we're working on bringing digital screens to major bus locations. 

Increasing service to the City of Hamilton is a priority for Metrolinx and through the GO Expansion program Hamilton will receive more service than there is today. 

As background, because Metrolinx doesn’t own the rail corridor west of Burlington GO Station, service plans are dependent on adding more infrastructure and finalizing service agreements with rail corridor owners. 

We have already completed much of the required infrastructure work:

• New track and all supporting infrastructure between Burlington and Bayview Junction
• West Harbour station completed and operational 
• Expanded bridge over Centennial Parkway 
• Expanded bridge over Desjardins Canal 
• Replaced the Valley Inn Road bridge 
• Completed the new layover facility on Lewis Road 

We are currently working with rail corridor owners to deliver more service to the Hamilton as soon as possible. Stay tuned for more information.  

We are always looking at ways to make it more convenient for our customers to take our services, and we thank you for sharing your feedback with us. We expect ridership to quadruple when we roll out major service improvements through our GO expansion program. Increasing parking capacity is one way to manage this growing demand and we will continue to invest in this. 

We’re working on design plans to add more parking at Bradford GO. Those plans are still in the early stages of development, but we’ll work collaboratively with customers, stakeholders, and the local community once we have a better idea of how many parking spaces we’re adding. However, we know that parking alone will not be able to meet the needs of all the new customers who will be using our service. Thats why we're working on improving connections with local transit and making it easier to get to and from our stations using other forms of transportation, like carpooling, cycling, or walking. We will continue working with our regional and municipal partners to look at ways to get customers to and from stations in the most convenient way possible. 

We add service when and where we can. There are many factors that influence this, including available infrastructure, rail traffic, available equipment and ridership patterns. As you know, there are a number of unique considerations on the Richmond Hill corridor that make expanding service decidedly more complex. These include:

• flooding in the lower Don River, which affects most of the corridor from Richmond Street to the Millwood Bridge;
• slow journey times due to indirect alignment and low track speeds; 
• CN Rail ownership of the corridor north of Old ------, and conflicts with freight services; and
• proposed parallel transit improvements such as future new lines.

We appreciate your feedback and will continue to seize opportunities to add more service on the Richmond Hill corridor in the years to come.

Last year, we operated 825,992 bus service hours and the previous year, we operated 816,316 hours. We currently do not have a forecast for the year ahead as there are a number of factors that influence our services.

Metrolinx does not own the Milton corridor, so we can run our trains only when our freight rail partners are not running theirs. But we continue expanding service on the Milton line wherever we can, increasing from 60 weekly trips to 100 over the last 10 years. 

Caledonia GO Station, a separate project by Metrolinx, is still in the early stages of  planning and design. The Caledonia GO Station will be an interchange station with the Caledonia stop on the Eglinton Crosstown LRT.  We’ll follow up with the community once we have a more clear idea of scope and schedule for the project. 

With respect to new stations, Metrolinx has adopted a Transit Oriented Development, Market Driven Strategy for delivering new stations that provide benefits to Metrolinx’s existing service and customers, evaluated through Metrolinx’s business case process. Metrolinx and Infrastructure Ontario are working together to solicit interest from third parties for both Kirby and Innisfil GO Stations. 

The second track is currently being installed. 

• Sheppard to Steeles: 90% complete
• Sheppard south to St. Clair: 50% complete

We are working hard to expand service on the Stouffville line. For example, in April 2019, we introduced five midday weekday trips serving centennial, Markham and Mount Joy.

With respect to the Scarborough Junction, we are currently working on the preliminary design and meeting with the City of Toronto with regards to the Scarborough Junction grade separation. Stay tuned for details on when public engagement will take place.

To listen to the response, please see the video https://www.metrolinxengage.com/en/content/metrolinx-town-hall-june-24-2019 at the 1:00:03 mark.

Metrolinx is committed to two-way, all day service on the Kitchener line. It is a key priority of our GO expansion program and the new service introduced in January was an important step forward on that commitment. 

Metrolinx does not own the entirety of the Kitchener corridor, but we were able to deliver this first round of service improvements thanks to a stronger working relationship with CN Rail.

We continue to work together to find smarter and better ways to accelerate the delivery of new service to the communities along the line.

We continue to explore service options on the Richmond Hill line.  A challenge however is that Metrolinx does not own most of the Richmond Hill corridor.  We will continue to work with CN (owner) on how we can improve service in the future.  In the meantime, major improvements include the all new Bloomington GO Station opening in late 2020 which will have considerable ameneties and parking.

We are always looking at ways to make it more convenient for our customers to take our services, and we thank you for sharing your feedback with us. We expect ridership to quadruple when we roll out major service improvements through our GO expansion program. Increasing parking capacity is one way to manage this growing demand and we will continue to invest in this. We're working on building a new parking lot at Unionville GO to give you access to 300 more parking spaces. 

However, we know that parking alone will not be able to meet the needs of all the new customers who will be using our service. Thats why we're working on improving connections with local transit and making it easier to get to and from our stations using other forms of transportation, like carpooling, cycling, or walking. We will continue working with our regional and municipal partners to look at ways to get customers to and from stations in the most convenient way possible. To explore other ways to get to and from our stations and what we're doing to help you with that, you can visit gotransit.com/gettingtogo.

We are always looking at ways to make it more convenient for our customers to take our services, and we thank you for sharing your feedback with us. We have passed this on to the operations teams. For real-time bus service information, you can use our "Where's my bus" service with your phone. We also have digital signage at every GO train station, and we're working on bringing digital screens to major bus locations. 

Metrolinx and Infrastructure Ontario are working together, using our combined expertise in land development, to deliver the TOD program. The program objectives are to increase transit ridership, deliver a better customer experience, and more complete places to live, work and play near a station with connections to the rest of the region. The program includes market driven (third-party) opportunities, joint developments, dispositions and connections. Strong evidence-based decision-making is still a key contributor to the design, selection and delivery of transit investments. All new transit infrastructure must provide benefits to Metrolinx’s existing service and customers, which is evaluated through Metrolinx’s business case process.

With respect to business cases, strong evidence-based decision-making is a key contributor to the design, selection and delivery of transit investments. The Metrolinx Business Case Guidance clearly outlines how our business cases are developed, including the robust approach for assessing the benefits, costs, and impacts of a potential investment. Most importantly, since business cases are published on our website, it helps our customers clearly understand the basis for these decisions. 

To listen to the response, please see the video https://www.metrolinxengage.com/en/content/metrolinx-town-hall-june-24-2019 at the 15:34 mark.

A new Park Lawn GO station is in the early planning and design stage. The updated Initial Business Case was completed in February 2018, showing the location has positive benefits. In the meantime, Metrolinx and Infrastructure Ontario are working together through the new Transit Oriented Development, Market Driven Strategy to deliver new stations. This means, Metrolinx will partner with Third Parties (e.g. municipalities, land developers, etc) who will fund the design and construction while Metrolinx operates it. Metrolinx requirements will still be met for service, design, construction and consultation etc. while Third Parties will coordinate project design, timing and integration with private development if applicable and subject to agreement. 

The Stouffville double tracking project will be complete by spring 2020.  Right now there are no plans to extend the line beyond Lincolnville GO.  The station updates along the Stouffville line (Agincourt, Milliken and Unionville) will be completed in the coming years.

Thank you very much for offering your feedback. We're always looking at ways to improve, so we have shared your input forward to see if anything can be done to address this. As you can imagine, we introduce services when and where we can based on a number of factors, including ridership and availability of resources. When we do finalize plans for new services, we are sure to give customerse plenty of advance notice.

We are working to add new parking to select stations across our network. For example, we're building a 6-storey parking structure at Rutherford GO Station, which will add 1200 net-new parking spaces to the site. 

Once those design plans become more fleshed out, we'll let customers and community members know more about what we're building there. We know that parking at Newmarket GO Station can be a challenge, and we’re working to assess options to improve that. Customers are encouraged to explore other options to get to the station while we assess, including taking advantage of the reduced fare on York Region Transit when connecting to GO services.   

Thank you very much for bringing this to our attention. We have considered gated access in the past but determined it would not be a viable solution. We have shared this with our enforcement teams for them to follow up on. In the future, feel free to contact us at 1-888-438-6646 for customer service or 1-877-297-0642 for safety and security concerns. We'd appreciate hearing from you.

As you may recall, last year we tested Wi-Fi services from two different providers. It was very popular with our customers. We are assessing the results, and we are still very much working toward the goal of providing our customers with Wi-Fi on our GO trains and buses. We will have more details to share with you in the future.

We add and modify service when and where we can. There are many factors that influence this, including available infrastructure, rail traffic and available equipment. Express service is especially challenging on the Stouffville line with single tracking north of Scarborough GO. Express trains would ulitmately catch up to an all-stops train without a way to bypass. However, we are continuing to expand service on Stouffville line to make taking GO even better, faster and easier. Service on the Stouffville line will include even more frequent service during middays, evenings and weekends. Learn more about our GO Expansion Business Case and stay tuned for more information about this program as we work with the Government of Ontario to deliver it.

The rapidway where this stop is located is expected to open by the end of this year.  

We add service when and where we can. There are many factors that influence this, including available infrastructure, rail traffic and available equipment.  Express service is especially challenging on the Barrie line because there is primarily only one track along most of the corridor. Express trains would ulitmately catch up to an all-stops train without a way to bypass. 

However, we are continuing to expand service on Barrie line to make taking GO even better, faster and easier. Through the GO Expansion program service on the Barrie line is expected to increase and will include even more frequent service during middays, evenings and weekends, more service to and from Barrie, including some express service from stations along the line. Learn more about our GO Expansion Business Case and stay tuned for more information about this program as we work with the Government of Ontario  to deliver it.

In the case of a service disruption, we do what we can to get you to where you're going. While we always work quickly to resolve the issue, we assess safety and availability of vehicles when determining alternative travel options. If a shuttle bus is not provided at your particular location, it was neither safe or feasible to do so.   

We continue to operate Route 38 GO bus service with a reduced schedule to preserve transit connections for rural customers. 

Metrolinx regularly monitors travel behaviour and markets to identify rising and high potential markets for future GO services. In particular, we monitor all bus routes and rail corridors within the service area for travel patterns and ridership to determine potential service additions and adjustments. 

All service changes take into account broader service planning initiatives. Decisions on specific service changes take into consideration a number of factors including expected ridership, costs, fit with the overall network, and available resources (such as crewing, equipment, and track/platform availability). These decisions are based on a variety of sources, which include travel demand surveys, experience on existing services serving similar markets, feedback from customers, and input from municipal/regional staff. We have referred your request to the appropriate team for their review.

Metrolinx does not own the Milton corridor, so we can run our trains only when our freight rail partners are not running theirs. But we continue expanding service on the Milton line wherever we can, increasing from 60 weekly trips to 100 over the last 10 years. 

Thank you very much for bringing this to our attention. We clean the shelters regularly and have shared this with our enforcement teams. We encourage you to contact us at 1-888-438-6646 for customer service or 1-877-297-0642 for safety and security concerns. We'd appreciate hearing from you.

The Whitby Rail Maintenance Facility, on the Lakeshore East line, is a strategic and essential asset for Metrolinx’s planned service expansions, and is built for 30 years of expansion – to accommodate future electrified fleet.

The Willowbrook Rail Maintenance Facility in Etobicoke, along the Lakeshore West line, is also crucial to Metrolinx’s GO planned service expansions. As part of the GO Expansion program, we’re getting ready to procure a contract for services that will include building the infrastructure needed to electrify core segments of the GO network. That contract recently reached the RFP stage, which is still relatively early in the procurement process. 

Although we cannot give a firm date as to when the infrastructure will be installed at Willowbrook, we can say that it is part of the GO Expansion program and will be up to the winning bidder to decide when, how, and which technology is used to electrify Willowbrook. 

As outlined in Ontario’s 2019 Budget, the Ontario Government will look to the private sector to propose innovative approaches to meet future GO Transit rail service levels, including opportunities for technology that could be used to electrify core segments of the GO Transit rail network, such as an overhead catenary system or hydrogen fuel cells.

Thank you for bringing this to our attention. You're right - we can and should do better. We have passed this on to the operations teams for follow up. If you encounter this problem again, please don't hesitate to reach out to us at 1-888-438-6646.

We're building a 6-storey parking structure at Rutherford GO Station, which will add 1200 net-new parking spaces to the site. We're also building more parking at Maple GO and King City GO. Once those design plans become more fleshed out, we'll let customers and community members know more about what we're building there. 

We add service when and where we can. There are many factors that influence this, including available infrastructure, rail traffic, available equipment and ridership patterns. On the Richmond Hill corridor, there are a number of unique considerations that make expanding service decidedly more complex. These include:

• flooding in the lower Don River, which affects most of the corridor from Richmond Street to the Millwood Bridge;
• slow journey times due to indirect alignment and low track speeds; 
• CN Rail ownership of the corridor north of Old ------, and conflicts with freight services; and
• proposed parallel transit improvements such as future new lines.

We appreciate your feedback and will continue to seize opportunities to add more service on the Richmond Hill corridor in the years to come.

Thank you for sharing your concern. We have alerted our Stations Operations West team to this issue at your station. 

Metrolinx and Infrastructure Ontario with the City of Toronto and the TTC will continue collaborating and working side by side to build a modern, integrated transit system that will connect more communities to more places, saving them time in their travels. 

We are lucky to have world renowned experts on our team and in our partners who will continue to bring together infinite experience and deliver this exciting program on behalf of the Province of Ontario to further our transit network for years to come.

We are in the process of sharing information so that we are able to do our own due diligence for each project and conduct expert panel reviews. We will draw on lessons learned from other projects internationally, using proven international best practices and technologies.  

Beyond our regular bus service, we do not offer pick-up service at Aurora GO. Perhaps, you're referring to the York Region Transit's mobility on-demand service pilot? We suggest you visit yrt.ca to learn more about their service plans. At the same time, we are continually looking at ways to improve connections to and from our stations, and we thank you for expressing your interest in pick-up services.

There is no cost for parking at GO stations, with exception to reserved parking.

We add service when and where we can. There are many factors that influence this, including available infrastructure, rail traffic and available equipment.  Express service is especially challenging on the Barrie line because there is primarily only one track along most of the corridor. Express trains would ulitmately catch up to an all-stops train without a way to bypass. 

However, we are continuing to expand service on Barrie line to make taking GO even better, faster and easier. Through the GO Expansion program service on the Barrie line is expected to increase and will include even more frequent service during middays, evenings and weekends, more service to and from Barrie, including some express service from stations along the line. Learn more about our GO Expansion Business Case and stay tuned for more information about this program as we work with the Government of Ontario  to deliver it.

Metrolinx’s priority is to ensure as many travellers as possible are able to access high-quality transit options. York University GO Station opened in 2002 as a temporary station with the anticipation of future changes to the transit network in the area. Since then, the TTC’s Line 1 extension and Downsview Park GO Station have opened, providing riders with more transit options than ever. 

At this point in time, no decisions have been made on the future of the York University GO Station, however, we continue to monitor and review the station’s usage and ridership. 

Metrolinx and Infrastructure Ontario with the City of Toronto and the TTC will continue collaborating and working side by side to build a modern, integrated transit system that will connect more communities to more places, saving them time in their travels. 

We are lucky to have world renowned experts on our team and in our partners who will continue to bring together infinite experience and deliver this exciting program on behalf of the Province of Ontario to further our transit network for years to come.

We are in the process of sharing information so that we are able to do our own due diligence for each project and conduct expert panel reviews. We will draw on lessons learned from other projects internationally, using proven international best practices and technologies.  

We know that parking is a challenge at stations all across the network, including at Bradford GO Station. That’s why we’re working on design plans to add more parking at Bradford GO. Those plans are still in the early stages of development, but we’ll work collaboratively with customers, stakeholders, and the local community once we have a better idea of how many parking spaces we’re adding. 

We need to strike the right balance of serving customers from all parts of our network. Stouffville trains stopping at Danforth GO helps to improve connectivity for those customers from different parts of our network wanting to take TTC.

We add and modify service when and where we can. There are many factors that influence this, including available infrastructure, rail traffic and available equipment. Express service is especially challenging on the Stouffville line with single tracking north of Scarborough GO. Express trains would ulitmately catch up to an all-stops train without a way to bypass.  However, we are continuing to expand service on Stouffville line to make taking GO even better, faster and easier. Service on the Stouffville line will include even more frequent service during middays, evenings and weekends. Learn more about our GO Expansion Business Case and stay tuned for more information about this program as we work with the Government of Ontario to deliver it.

This contract is currently in the procurement phase. Once we have a contractor on board, we'll have a better idea as to construction schedule, and we'll communicate that to customers, the local community and our stakeholders. 

We add service when and where we can. There are many factors that influence this, including available infrastructure, rail traffic, available equipment and ridership patterns. On the Richmond Hill corridor, there are a number of unique considerations that make expanding service decidedly more complex. These include:

• flooding in the lower Don River, which affects most of the corridor from Richmond Street to the Millwood Bridge;
• slow journey times due to indirect alignment and low track speeds; 
• CN Rail ownership of the corridor north of Old ------, and conflicts with freight services; and
• proposed parallel transit improvements such as future new lines. 

We appreciate your feedback and will continue to seize opportunities to add more service on the Richmond Hill corridor in the years to come.

As part of planning for the GO Expansion, we assessed over 50 level crossings in York Region to identify opportunities to grade separate a number of priority level crossings, using a tiered approach to inform prioritization and discussions with municipalities.The 4 grade separations we're building in York Region were chosen because they will increase community and customer safety, they enable 15-minute service, are close to existing stations, and have a very high traffic levels. 

Thank you very much for offering your feedback. GO bus service is intended to provide regional bus service to connect communities. York Region Transit offers local service in your area, and we suggest you visit yrt.ca to learn more about their service plans.

We add service when and where we can. There are many factors that influence this, including available infrastructure, rail traffic and available equipment. By increasing off-peak service, we’re enhancing transit scheduling to make life easier for those travelling within the GTHA. Increasing sustainable trip options is an important part of an integrated regional transportation network. Similar transit services throughout the world have been shown to slow the growth of road congestion. Travel times for much of the network will significantly improve with the introduction of electrified train service, which allows for faster acceleration and speed at a lower cost. 

Metrolinx’s priority is to ensure as many travellers as possible are able to access high-quality transit options. York University GO Station opened in 2002 as a temporary station with the anticipation of future changes to the transit network in the area. Since then, the TTC’s Line 1 extension and Downsview Park GO Station have opened, providing riders with more transit options than ever. 

At this point in time, no decisions have been made on the future of the York University GO Station, however, we continue to monitor and review the station’s usage and ridership. 

We plan to make some major station improvements at King City GO Station, including more parking spaces in the east lot. We’re currently working on design plans, and construction is expected to start by the end of 2020.  

Metrolinx regularly monitors travel behaviour and markets to identify rising and high potential markets for future GO services. In particular, we monitor all bus routes and rail corridors within the service area for travel patterns and ridership to determine potential service additions and adjustments. 

All service changes take into account broader service planning initiatives. Decisions on specific service changes take into consideration a number of factors including expected ridership, costs, fit with the overall network, and available resources (such as crewing, equipment, and track/platform availability). These decisions are based on a variety of sources, which include travel demand surveys, experience on existing services serving similar markets, feedback from customers, and input from municipal/regional staff. 

We have referred your request to the appropriate team for their review. 

Transit is already competitive in price with the car, but it is true that not all services are priced the same within a given area, and that transferring between systems can result in multiple charges. 

While Metrolinx doesn’t have the authority to set fares regionally, we are actively working with other agencies on harmonization. And while the loyalty program on GO Transit is already a kind of cap, it doesn’t extend to other services as in London.

To listen to the response, please see the video https://www.metrolinxengage.com/en/content/metrolinx-town-hall-june-24-2019 at the 42:33 mark.

Just last month we reached the RFP stage of procuring the OnCorridor Works Project. The OnCorridor Works project includes the new infrastructure required to facilitate the delivery of expanded and improved GO rail services, including two-way, all-day service every 15 minutes over core segments of the GO rail network, as well as the operations and maintenance of the GO rail network. 

The On-Corridor Works project is being delivered using the design, build, finance, operate and maintain (DBFOM) Public-Private Partnership (P3) model. Bid teams will be required to submit proposals to realize the performance objectives of the GO Rail Expansion. As outlined in Ontario’s 2019 Budget, the Ontario Government will look to the private sector to propose innovative approaches to meet future GO Transit rail service levels, including opportunities for technology that could be used to electrify core segments of the GO Transit rail network, such as an overhead catenary system or hydrogen fuel cells. Once the team is selected, final infrastructure and service plans will be made available. 

Thank you for your question. Metrolinx is not responsible for road construction/expansion. Please share your question with York Region at [email protected].

1. Metrolinx has adopted a Transit Oriented Development, Market Driven Strategy for delivering new stations. Implementation of this strategy requires that new transit infrastructure – including new stations - provide benefits to Metrolinx’s existing service and customers, evaluated through Metrolinx’s business case process. 

Mulock GO station was announced as part of the 12 new stations approved by Metrolinx’ Board of Directors in July 2016 to move forward to the next stage of the business case lifecycle, the Preliminary Design Business Case (PDBC). 

Metrolinx committed to looking at the context for Mulock more closely and to do more analysis in the context of the GO Expansion Full Business Case. That work is underway.

2. With respect to the Barrie line, 15 minute electrified service will only be available up to Aurora GO Station. 

3. You're right, you should be able to rely on GO Transit to be on time. To ensure we’re meeting our commitments to you, we’re being more proactive about equipment upgrades, preparing more for extreme weather, spending more time on operations training, and working more closely with our rail partners to remove congestion in the network. While some of these delays are within our control, many are not, including extreme weather events, delays caused by an increased number of false passenger alarms, police investigations and increased freight traffic across our network. 

Metrolinx’s priority is to ensure as many travellers as possible are able to access high-quality transit options. York University GO Station opened in 2002 as a temporary station with the anticipation of future changes to the transit network in the area. Since then, the TTC’s Line 1 extension and Downsview Park GO Station have opened, providing riders with more transit options than ever. 

At this point in time, no decisions have been made on the future of the York University GO Station, however, we continue to monitor and review the station’s usage and ridership. 

This contract is currently in the procurement phase. Once we have a contractor on board, we'll have a better idea as to construction schedule, and we'll communicate that to customers, the local community and our stakeholders. 

We are working to add new parking to select stations across our network. For example, we're building a 6-storey parking structure at Rutherford GO Station, which will add 1200 net-new parking spaces to the site. 

Once those design plans become more fleshed out, we'll let customers and community members know more about what we're building there. We know that parking at Aurora GO Station can be a challenge, and we’re working to assess options to improve that. Customers are encouraged to explore other options to get to the station while we assess, including taking advantage of the reduced fare on York Region Transit when connecting to GO services.   

Bloomington GO is on track to open late 2020. 

We are always looking at ways to make it more convenient for our customers to take our services, and we thank you for sharing your feedback with us. We have passed this on to the operations teams. 

Fares on UP Express remain unchanged, however loyalty discounts for frequent monthly travel are no longer available, as you stated. The different fare policies for GO and UP reflect the different purposes of the distinct services. As you know, UP Express is primarily focussed on providing fast, reliable train service that connects customers to very time-sensitive trips at the airport. 

In regard to service, we add and modify GO service when and where we can. There are many factors that influence this, including ridership, available infrastructure, rail traffic and available equipment. Several stations along the Kitchener line received more trip options earlier this year, but we had to adjust some schedules to ensure our services could run in parallel with CN freight traffic. 

We add service when and where we can. There are many factors that influence this, including available infrastructure, rail traffic and available equipment.  Express service is especially challenging on the Barrie line because there is primarily only one track along most of the corridor. Express trains would ulitmately catch up to an all-stops train without a way to bypass. 

However, we are continuing to expand service on Barrie line to make taking GO even better, faster and easier. Through the GO Expansion program service on the Barrie line is expected to increase and will include even more frequent service during middays, evenings and weekends, more service to and from Barrie, including some express service from stations along the line. Learn more about our GO Expansion Business Case and stay tuned for more information about this program as we work with the Government of Ontario  to deliver it.

Metrolinx is committed to two-way, all day service on the Kitchener line. It is a key priority of our GO expansion program and the new service introduced in January was an important step forward on that commitment. 

Metrolinx does not own the entirety of the Kitchener corridor, but we were able to deliver this first round of service improvements thanks to a stronger working relationship with CN Rail.

We continue to work together to find smarter and better ways to accelerate the delivery of new service to the communities along the line.

Metrolinx and Infrastructure Ontario with the City of Toronto and the TTC will continue collaborating and working side by side to build a modern, integrated transit system that will connect more communities to more places, saving them time in their travels. 

We are lucky to have world renowned experts on our team and in our partners who will continue to bring together infinite experience and deliver this exciting program on behalf of the Province of Ontario to further our transit network for years to come.

We are in the process of sharing information so that we are able to do our own due diligence for each project and conduct expert panel reviews. We will draw on lessons learned from other projects internationally, using proven international best practices and technologies.  

Thank you for sharing your feedback. Metrolinx monitors our service carefully to ensure we are making the best use of our resources. We value our customers and we do not make these decisions lightly, in the case of route 20 and 24, there is not enough demand to justify running the services. 

For more information about the route changes and alternatives, please click here.

While we currently do not have plans to bring GO Bus service to the Premium Outlets, we continually assess and monitor ridership to help ensure we are meeting the needs of our customers. At this time, Metrolinx’s top priorities for investment in GO Transit generally involve expanding the quantity and quality of service offered on the existing train and bus network. These investments were selected over potential alternatives in part because of their ability to attract significant ridership by meeting the unmet current demand as well as the planned growth over the next few decades.

With respect to the Barrie line, the proposed Innisfil GO station will be located immediately north of 6th Line, east of 20th Sideroad.

Metrolinx has adopted a Transit Oriented Development, Market Driven Strategy for delivering new stations that provide benefits to Metrolinx’s existing service and customers, evaluated through Metrolinx’s business case process. Metrolinx and Infrastructure Ontario are working together to solicit interest from third parties for a new station at Innisfil. 

Thank you for your question. As a Crown agency, Metrolinx must abide by the French Language Services Act (FLSA). This legislation "recognizes the contribution of the cultural heritage of the French speaking population and wishes to preserve it for future generations." It protects the language rights of Francophones by ensuring that provincial government services are offered in French and English in designated areas in Ontario. Since Metrolinx serves clients in designated areas, all of its services must be offered in French and English. 

Transforming transit across the middle of Toronto is a significant undertaking, so we understand that construction can be disruptive. 

Metrolinx makes every effort to ensure that the communities that are impacted by the work receive up-to-date information on construction activities and timing and where they are directly impacted, they are supported.  This involves significant outreach and public communication.  Metrolinx has a dedicated team of community relations and communications specialists to support the delivery of the Eglinton Crosstown LRT project. The team, supported by Metrolinx’s constructor, Crosslinx Transit Solutions (CTS), operates from two community offices along Eglinton Avenue, one at Dufferin Street and one at Bayview Avenue, to answer questions and address concerns. Telephone service is available 24/7. 

Through monthly Construction Liaison Committees (CLCs) and community canvasses, the team works with local businesses and residents to lessen the impact of construction and to address concerns, where possible. Key outreach activities include public open houses, 24/7 noise mitigation plan/outreach, tours, weekly construction notices at stations with overnight/disruptive work, safety messaging.

Metrolinx has a commitment to keeping people informed, so construction notices are mailed to all residences within 500 metres of the Eglinton corridor. This information is also posted on thecrosstown.ca, shared on Twitter via @CrosstownTO, and distributed to email lists. Local city councillors and their staff are briefed in advance of work starting, and maps and informational videos explaining changes to pedestrian movements or traffic set-ups are created. 

For any questiions, feel free to contact the Crosstown team at [email protected].

Thanks for your thoughts. At Metrolinx, safety is our top priority. It’s important that people not cross our rail corridor as train time is any time. 

The decision to build a pedestrian bridge across the rail corridor rests with the municipality. We are always willing to work with the City of Toronto on requests to build additional pedestrian crossings over our rail corridor.

We do not have any plans to build a pedestrian bridge at Old ------ Station. We regularly look for opportunities to improve access to our stations including enhancing active transportation (e.g walking, cycling) access. As we upgrade stations across the network, we will be improving station access for all modes of transportation including pedestrians and cyclists.

We are always looking at ways to make it more convenient for our customers to take our services, and we thank you for sharing your feedback with us. We expect ridership to quadruple when we roll out major service improvements through our GO expansion program. Increasing parking capacity is one way to manage this growing demand and we will continue to invest in this. However, we know that parking alone will not be able to meet the needs of all the new customers who will be using our service. Thats why we're working on improving connections with local transit and making it easier to get to and from our stations using other forms of transportation, like carpooling, cycling, or walking. We will continue working with our regional and municipal partners to look at ways to get customers to and from stations in the most convenient way possible. To explore other ways to get to and from our stations and what we're doing to help you with that, you can visit gotransit.com/gettingtogo.

GO Transit is a regional public transit service provider for the Greater Golden Horseshoe. The service area covered by GO Transit is prescribed and mandated by the Minister of Transportation, and does not extend to Kingston, Montreal or Ottawa. 

Metrolinx does not own the Milton corridor, so we can run our trains only when our freight rail partners are not running theirs. But we continue expanding service on the Milton line wherever we can, increasing from 60 weekly trips to 100 over the last 10 years. 

We are always looking at ways to make it more convenient for our customers to take our services, and we thank you for sharing your feedback with us. We expect ridership to quadruple when we roll out major service improvements through our GO expansion program. 

Increasing parking capacity is one way to manage this growing demand and we will continue to invest in this. However, we know that parking alone will not be able to meet the needs of all the new customers who will be using our service. Thats why we're working on improving connections with local transit and making it easier to get to and from our stations using other forms of transportation, like carpooling, cycling, or walking. We will continue working with our regional and municipal partners to look at ways to get customers to and from stations in the most convenient way possible. To explore other ways to get to and from our stations and what we're doing to help you with that, you can visit gotransit.com/gettingtogo.

We add service when and where we can. There are many factors that influence this, including available infrastructure, rail traffic and available equipment.  Express service is especially challenging on the Barrie line because there is primarily only one track along most of the corridor. Express trains would ulitmately catch up to an all-stops train without a way to bypass. 

However, we are continuing to expand service on Barrie line to make taking GO even better, faster and easier. Through the GO Expansion program service on the Barrie line is expected to increase and will include even more frequent service during middays, evenings and weekends, more service to and from Barrie, including some express service from stations along the line. Learn more about our GO Expansion Business Case and stay tuned for more information about this program as we work with the Government of Ontario  to deliver it.