McGuinty Government Investing In Public Transit
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Starting next year, GO train riders will get a refund if their train is more than 15 minutes late.
Ontario families want to know that when they choose GO Transit they are going to get to where they need to be, on time. With GO's 15-minute guarantee, customers will be able to receive one-way fare refunds automatically through their PRESTO cards or from a customer sales rep.
Passengers will get refunds for all train delays except those caused by extreme weather, police investigations, accidents and medical emergencies.
Nearly 90 per cent of GO riders who completed an online survey support the money back guarantee. It's just one more way GO is working hard to improve their passengers' experience.
Investing in Ontario's infrastructure -- our roads, highways, transit, hospitals and schools -- is part of the government's plan to create jobs and ensure that the province remains strong and competitive.
You see that passage I've highlighted in bold? Let's talk about that for a minute.
The so called exemptions can embody so many different things. A pile of wet leaves has been known to cause rail slippage on some corridors and trains crawl at a snail's pass in the Fall after heavy rain. Is this "extreme weather"?
I once had to get off a train due to malfunctioning doors and wait for another train that was 25 minutes late and I was over an hour late for work. So how do we know malfunctioning doors won't translate to a police investigation? A medical emergency?
What's an accident? The only true definition of an accident is a meteor falling out of the sky, landing on the rails and obstructing rail traffic. A driver who has driven his vehicle onto the tracks into the path of an oncoming GO train is a person who created a caused occurrence, through negligence on his part.
Failing to stop, choosing to speed, choosing to ignore signal equipment, failing to safely maintain a vehicle's brakes, driving too fast on the highway so one loses control, rolls, clears a fence and lands upside down on the tracks, these actions caused a crash, not an accident. An accident is an an event with no apparent cause. Driving your pick-up in front of an oncoming train is not an accident. Sorry. You were just driving stupid. Give me my refund.
Pedestrians don't just accidentally wind up on the tracks. Many of you had a whole discussion about rail safety when a CN employee was tragically killed last month near Pickering. But it wasn't an accident. Someone screwed up. Human error.
We've covered people who jump in front of trains in a bid to end whatever pain they are in. That isn't accidental in nature ...
But it just seems petty to demand a refund when you know someone just lost their life.
Let's face it, the only time any of us will be seeing a refund is when a switch fails or signals stop working.
I guess we can expect to hear a lot less of those announcements next year. Amma right?
And this is only if "Premier Dad" McGuinty gets re-elected.
ReplyDeleteYep. I guarantee no one will be seeing any refunds.
ReplyDeleteAnd just wait until Go rewrites their definistion of accident, police investigation ect... these definitions will get broader and we will never get a refund going fwd. This is a far cry from actually getting better service, IMHO.......
ReplyDeleteOh, we will still get the same amount of announcements - remember they are trying to "communicate" more effectively. They will just start giving reasons that fit the 4 exceptions and not the real reason.
ReplyDeleteIt is a shame... maybe this could have been used in such a way to fix the switches and do something about those "signal" problems that always effect an earlier train.
I've been stupid busy at work, but I'm totally blogging about this one! My eyes rolled so far into the back of my head when I heard this, that I could see my grey roots!
ReplyDeleteAhhhh don't ya' just love it when an election is just around the corner. The promises remind me of a guy who will try and get me to believe anything just to get in my pants.
ReplyDeleteGlad we are on the same page!! this new promise is BS.
ReplyDeleteand that little weasel McGuilty will never get in!
Yes, perhaps McGuinty will be elected and we will get refunds when there is a "refunable" delay, so to speak. But the reality is, that's a loss in revenue for GO and the money will have to come from somewhere. Rising ticket prices anyone? Service cuts? We will see.
ReplyDeletetrue. they wouldnt let that revenue dissapear,
ReplyDeletei guess they are insuring things under their own control. any company would do that. But you can't blame GO if someone decides to run into a train with their car, nor can you blame them if someone falls over.
ReplyDeletefyi, they have been doing this for years. i don't know why this is big news.
Hi Princess
ReplyDeleteI'm pretty sure I indicated where the blame lies when a driver collides with a train or a person commits suicide. These are causal events GO can't prepare for.
That's nice for train riders (if it ever happens) But what about the riders on the Go bus. If I leave the city any time after 3pm I am guaranteed a ride that takes 15 to 30 min longer that it is scheduled. That is EVERYDAY not once in a while. Go would go broke if they had to refund our fares. For some reason a transit bus with 60 people has no priority that 60 single occupancy vehicles. How about a right of way at known bottle necks? In the past Go would refund a single ticket or a 10 ride but monthly pass holders were screwed. How about a refund for all those parents who had to shell out $20+ for late daycare fines?
ReplyDeleteno joke...I once had to call my boss at 7:15 am on a gorgeous sunny spring morning to leg her know I would be working from home because GOTransit had cancelled train service out of Hamilton that day and I didn't have the patience to stand for hours waiting with hundreds of other commuters for a bus while becoming asphixiated on exhaust fumes. They played the "bad weather" card. Apparently the tracks were wet. *hand slapping forehead!*
ReplyDelete