Touring and the GO Train
I used the GO train recently - on a Wednesday morning, from Guildwood going east, against the rush hour. It worked well and was a pleasant ride, but for two things:
- two stuffed rear panniers and the wide handle bar made it awkward to board - the darn bike wouldn't get through between the door handles and I had to jiggle and force it. The whole thing is made more difficult because you have to lift the bike, and that loaded bike was a tad heavy. I succeeded but it took me an "eternity" or at least it seemed so because you are holding up the train...
- there is a raised platform for wheel chair loading and I wanted to use that entrance to get on the train. But it seems to be dedicated to wheelchairs only and I was waved down to enter at the regular door.
Did anyone else run into these snags?
Thanks for your post Erhard!
Yes, it's true - there is nothing more pleasant than a day combining bikes and transit to visit our beautiful environs - but - getting on the train is somewhat stressful.
I went yesterday with my family (one wife, two small children) to the beach and rib fest in Burlington. I try to make fun of getting on the train, but my wife is a better judge/unbiased and she finds it hard. She has those big cow horn handle bars. I went camping at Rouge Hill last year with my son, and did have to push hard to squeeze the paniers, tent and sleeping bag through the door.
What is the answer? That's a tough one - it is a commuter train first and foremost.
Just always remember that - the doors are opened and closed by train personnel. They are not automatic. The GO person is watching you (from the platform at the centre of the train). They won't close the doors on you.
One time, my bike slipped forward and the tire was stopping the door from closing. The driver repeated three times over the loud speaker that the doors were closing before I looked to see my tire was in the way. I pulled my bike back, the doors closed, and over the loudspeaker the voice said" "Thank you, this is your lucky day".
I know I am biased, but the GO train and GO bus personnel that I have encountered over the past two summers have been completely wonderful.
Thanks for your bikes and transit pioneering efforts Erhard - have you tried the GO Bus to Lake Simcoe?
Donald "GO-by-Bike" Wiedman
http://www.bikesandtransit.com
...and they sometimes must get awfully frustrated by the straight-jacket of corporate folly. I have good experience with the Sudbury-to-White River train and its merry crew.
That is funny!
I not used the GO bus, but use subway and TTC buses regularly - pretty good once you learn the particularities of such means.
On this trip, I came back from Belleville by VIA Rail and that worked out quite well. I've put up a trip report on http://www.yip.org/~erhard/ontarios-waterfront-trail.htm if you are interested.
I hate cars more than most people, but... S. Ontario is designed around the car. If you are two or more people and have a car/Autoshare/Zipcar, it's cheaper and more convenient to use a car, sadly.
Yes, but in the long run it's cheaper and more convenient to discard the car. Cheaper because we will have to pay for all the damage cars have done one day - And self propulsion is of course more convenient than getting yourself around by polluting the air and filling our drinking water full of salt and road run off.
...if a good percentage of folks ditches just one of the several cars in the household, it's a win-win situation for society.
Trains and buses can be built into one's bike travel and help overcome the inherently long distances that we have to deal with in N America.
To see what's possible and what not, to uncover the "details" (where the "devil" is, according to folk wisdom), one has to try it and gather experience. It's great we have excellent communication tools to help us share that knowledge....
I hope you've found a way to convince society car ownership is insane. I haven't. I haven't even found a way to get people to recognize that society exists, apart from their individual desires.
I put comments like "car ownership is insane" in the same category as those I hear from Drivers that claim Bikes have no place on our roads.
Although I prefer to pedal rather than throttle, there are times when by bike needs to take a back seat to the steering wheel.