| from: | buschic | ||
| to: | cj@thiscrazytrain.com | ||
| date: | Thu, Jan 22, 2015 at 5:34 PM | ||
| subject: | 1800 stouffville rage at adding Danforth |
I ride the Stouffville corridor on occasion, as it makes my ride home more calm and less rage-inducing from idiots. Also, being in a wheelchair & multiple-disabled, taking this train helps me avoid the nastiness of TTC subways at rush hour, especially Kennedy station.
Last night, a few of the regulars and I began talking about the recent release by GO/Metrolinx about the additional stop at Danforth and the fare increase.
It quickly became a heated and very interesting discussion, about the extra 5 minutes it will add to the trip, (GO claims only 2) but we all know the issues with door donkeys and accessibility needs will prolong it.
Instead of causing people who go all the way to Stouffville and Linconville to have to spend even more time on the train (its 50+ minutes now!) why not keep the stops near the subway to non-rush hour trains? Or keep it to LSE trains only?
As a former LSE regular myself, I know all too well the hell show that is the 1753 LSE. I rarely could get on, due to crowds, as I’m in a power wheelchair and also legally blind.
Why not just have the inside Toronto stops be at Kennedy (end of Bloor-Danforth subway) and Scarbourgh? This serves a very poorly transit served area and is the only way to make that area wheelchair-accessible, instead of waiting for the TTC to get Warden and Agincourt accessible? Danforth has tons of transit infrastructure now, is also is served by the LSE -- both in rush-hour & off-peak periods.
Stouffville is starved for transit, all they have is GO. Why make it more frustrating than need be? I grew up in far east end Hamilton, and lived there until 2005, I completely see their point on this one.
Also the fare increase... oh man, THAT got intense.
From my POV, I’m limited, on both the amount of GO fare I can afford (current limit is $50 a month) as well as PRESTO in all forms, website, readers & system, being inaccessible to those who are blind.
NOTE - Cj says (courtesy of ThisCrazyTrain reader who would like to remain anonymous):
http://www.getpres.to/whenandwhere/
^^^ See all that information? It's one giant image. Absolutely no actual text in the important section that tells you where you can actually use PRESTO.
Providing accessible websites means more than passing WCAG 2.0 AAA. There's no excuse for this! In 30 minutes, I could do a page that looks liked this AND is acessible ... AND loads faster for everybody. Give me another hour, and I could make it work better on mobile devices than a giant image ever can.
Why should I and others like me, be forced to pay for the pathetic excuses of GO/Metrolinx? It's still lacking severely on accessibility, especially on policy on buses (don’t even get me started on THAT!) and PRESTO, more excuses by GO/Metrolinx and their minions don’t make me want to continue using it, and with gas prices dropping like a rock, how many people who DO have the option of driving, will keep putting up with GO Transit’s fare increases and excuses?
Anyhow back to buschic's email:
Several people in my area of the accessibility car, even admitted to not buying a pass for the last few months and just using GO on weekdays & driving their cars to stations farther from home, to save on GO fares.
I haven't even gotten all the way through this post. Keep it to the LSE? Because my 50 minute train ride is somehow different than thier 50 minute train ride? And the 5 minutes is more important to them than it is to me?
ReplyDeleteNIMBY at its finest.
I agree April. No one likes this. This affects or can affect a lot of people, mostly negatively. But to say some are more deserving to be more affected because of the line they ride? Talk about selfish. Everyone is being screwed equally in this scenario.
ReplyDeleteRegardless, I still think that they should not be switching up the express trains to add in the extra stop. There are enough all-stops trains to accommodate this station.
Another point to bring up at the CSAC meeting.
ReplyDeleteI remember when GO Transit added to the York University stop on the then Bradford (now Barrie) line.
ReplyDeleteThere was the grumbling of having to adjust schedules etc. Meanwhile the students from Newmarket, Aurora, King and elsewhere were better accommodated (complete with York University providing free shuttles to the station) than before.
York University, with a student population over 30,000 plus staff, is major trip generator in north Toronto that will continue to grow.
But the GO peeps complaining chose to live where they did for cheaper real estate and back yards. But the trade off is longer commutes and higher costs for travelling to work in the downtown. These people just can't live with the choice that they made and instead wish blame others.
CJ is a different fish in this. Sure she chose to live in Clarington. But the only thing you hear her complain about are idiot donkeys who block the doors, take up seats and generally make life miserable for others. She never once complains of a lengthy commute as the schedules change on her commute. The only thing she notes is when GO Transit fails to adhere to the schedule they set.
So before complaining, perhaps these Stouffvillians (Stouffvillans?) better look at themselves, they chose to live out in the outer suburbs and now must deal with the growth. They do have another choice, the awesome commute York Region Transit (YRT) provides at $4.00 cash fare a long local bus journey to Markham, 2 transfers just to hit the TTC Subway out the east end (plus $3.00 TTC fare).
But then again, these guys could just switch to their cars and sit in traffic on the 401 listening to whomever gives the traffic report instead of sucking it up, adding 5 minutes to their commute, and living with the choice they made.
I only want the service I pay for. I don't expect more and I won't settle for less.
ReplyDeleteTry the 2 hour Kitchener line where an extra 5 minutes happens because of freight trains. NIMBY sheesh
ReplyDeleteApril said...
ReplyDeleteI haven't even gotten all the way through this post. Keep it to the LSE? Because my 50 minute train ride is somehow different than thier 50 minute train ride? And the 5 minutes is more important to them than it is to me?
=========================
April-- at LSE at least has the luxury of using high speed trains! The Stouffville route is such a pathetically slow milk-run (route takes about 1:10), we can't even get up to a reasonable speed. Also, the number of trains going in the morning is only 6, with the last train now rendered useless because those Brains at go transit decided to make a train arrive on/after 9am.
It's more than just a NIMBY!
RR