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Bike-friendly GO Transit

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Mon, 01/05/2009 - 12:15 by tino

GO Transit Bike shelter

Photo was taken on Christmas Day at Guildwood GO station. Looks like the staff at GO Transit decided to give cyclists a much appreciated present.

Tags: 
urban planning
news
infrastructure
commuting
bike parking
active transportation
GO Transit

Comments

Donald GO-by-Bi...

Ajax too!

Mon, 01/05/2009 - 13:52

Yes Virginia (Tino) there is a Santa Claus... and an Easter Bunny too.

Last spring, as a pilot project, GO installed a number of these shelters at select stations across the GTA, including one at the Ajax GO Station.

Let's hope for more in 2009!

AnnieD

Gee, I thought you were being ironic

Mon, 01/05/2009 - 15:00

I can't tell from the picture whether or not those bike racks are accessible, what with all the snow plowed into the shelter...

Wish I'd taken a picture this morning to counter with - 6 bikes already parked when I arrived at work this morning, with bike racks nicely cleared of snow (unlike yesterday's ring and post on Yonge which was buried in a snowbank). And I got here early, I bet there were more later in the day. Hope the Guildwood racks are accessible and being put to good use now that the holidays are over.

J (not verified)

FYI - More info on Spacing.ca/wire

Tue, 01/06/2009 - 01:04

http://spacing.ca/wire/2008/12/24/go-transits-new-bike-shelters/

Donald GO-by-Bi...

Good to GO

Tue, 01/06/2009 - 11:01

Ironic perhaps... but I think it is important to be good to GO Transit. They are in reality quite progressive when it comes to bikes, welcoming cyclists while other local transportation agencies either over plan for some distant future or ignore the real needs of cyclists in their efforts.

OK, OK, there's the "only during off-peak hours" issue, but GO has for years encouraged biking to and from their stations by supplying plenty of bike racks for everyone. This year they've upped their encouragement by piloting and now rolling out highly visible (to discourage theft) bike shelters at many stations across the region. All this for a present average of 10 to 15 cyclists parking at their stations at the peak of summer.

I don't think it's a bad thing for cash-strapped transit not to dig out a snowed-in bike shelter on Christmas Day. A heat wave came a few days later and took care of it tax-free no? In winter there really only need be a few parking spaces for cyclists. I doubt as well that it is "GO staff" responsibility to clear the snow as perhaps ascertained. Surely a contracted snowplow clears the parking lot.

As for cyclists pitching in and doing their part to help transit, I say a few good boot kicks will do the job and clear your parking space of snow.

As for building community, not discouraging it, I say next time bring a shovel not a camera.

http://www.bikesandtransit.com

Svend

Is a camera aimed at it to

Tue, 01/06/2009 - 11:57

Is a camera aimed at it to deter theft?
If the photo was from the other direction you could see the bike on top incorporates the GO Transit logo, quite clever!
I prefer this type of investment more than the Bike Lockers we see which can only be used by a handful of people.

F. N. Wright (not verified)

Stolen!

Tue, 01/06/2009 - 12:09

There was a camera, but it was stolen!

(just kiddin')

K.Thomson (not verified)

Bikes on Train only at non-peak hours.

Tue, 03/24/2009 - 19:49

I think allowing bikes on trains only at non-peak hours is ridiculous. Am I really going to be forced to store a bike at BOTH ends of the Go train that I ride if I want to ride my bike to work? How stupid is that?!

Why don't they have some sort of bikes-only car, or a car with limited seating, and more storage room for strollers/bikes. It doesn't make sense to own a bike, but be forced to take the bus because you can't take it with you. It's also ridiculous to have to use TWO different bikes for one trip because you can't take one bike from point A to point B.

GO may be good for some things (bike racks) but it is not impressing me in terms of other means of progressive transit.

geoffrey

Bike/Train conflict seems an ongoing issue

Wed, 03/25/2009 - 03:12

http://www.cyclelicio.us/2009/03/california-bike-lobby.html

Caltrain/cyclist friction has been way beyond the boil. Paid passengers taken off trains and arrested, crews refusing to move trains due to actions of the crews yet they succeeding in blaming commuter cyclists ..

Sometimes I wonder if being in the rail industry requires being anti bicyclist.

Trikester

Important Lesson

Wed, 03/25/2009 - 10:05

The important lesson in that article is how organized the cyclists are to get their needs met.

Hello Toronto!

Kevin Love

Actually, it is quite common

Wed, 03/25/2009 - 06:26

In places with much more advanced cycling culture, like Japan and the Netherlands, it is quite common for commuters to have a bicycle at each end of a train trip. What's the big deal?

It is also quite common in these countries to have either a rush-hour ban on bicycles or else an extra charge to bring a bike onto a train.

GO recently announced that folding bicycles can be taken on all trains all the time - including rush hour. Although no system is perfect, GO must be regarded as being fairly advanced. GO has no extra charge for bicycles. Electric bicycles are treated equally with other bicycles. It is only during rush hour AND only in the peak direction that only non-folding bicycles are banned.

On the whole, I've got to say that GO is fairly good.

jamesmallon (not verified)

But they have a place to keep a bike!

Wed, 03/25/2009 - 11:42

"[In] Japan and the Netherlands, it is quite common for commuters to have a bicycle at each end of a train trip." I experienced that in Japan, and have seen the pics of Holland, but they have secure parking! Just a wee difference. Wasn't there some meaningless ribbon cutting for a secure facility at Union a few years back? Even if it's ever finished, it won't help me at the other end of my commute, will it?

Kevin Love

So do we

Wed, 03/25/2009 - 14:51

The new secure bike parking facility at Union Station is scheduled to open in May. Yes, that's May, 2009. :)

All GO stations have bike racks, and some of them have bicycle lockers as well.

Given your references to peak hours restrictions, I presume that your pattern would be to bike to your local GO station in the morning, lock up there, take the train to Union Station, get your bike from the Union Station parking facility and ride it to work. In the afternoon, the process would reverse.

This means that one of your bikes would stay overnight at the Union Station secure facility, and the other one would be parked during the day at a GO station bike rack (or bike locker). I am quite comfortable leaving my bike locked to a GO bike rack during the day. I do, however, recommend both a stout U-lock and a chain or cable with a strong padlock. If you have secure parking at home, these locks can be left on the rack at the GO station.

The other option is to use a folding bicycle, which can be taken on all GO trains, all the time.

For more information, please see:

http://www.toronto.ca/legdocs/mmis/2008/pw/bgrd/backgroundfile-17107.pdf

http://www.toronto.ca/cycling/locker-locations.htm

jamesmallon (not verified)

not without security

Wed, 03/25/2009 - 15:07

My commute is outbound, but that's a trifle. I am not regularly leaving any bike unattended, even locked, since none of mine are worth less than $100. I might leave one at a bike station at Union, but certainly not unattended at the other end overnight in Port Credit, and all weekend. A bike station at one end, but not at the other, makes the single bike station an irrelevance. The reason that it's successful in Japan, is because they are at ALL major stations.

Kevin Love

You can take your bicycle on outbound GO trains

Thu, 03/26/2009 - 01:38

Actually, it is not a trifle. If you are going outbound from Union Station in the morning rush, you may take your bicycle on the train. Coming back from Port Credit to Union in the afternoon peak hours, you may also take your bike on the train. It is only in the direction of peak traffic flow that bicycles are banned. The other direction is OK during peak hours.

Please note that it is not allowed to take your bicycle into Union Station during peak hours. So during peak hours I always use the railway car on the West end of the train and use the Union platform's direct exit so as to avoid going into Union Station.

From the GO web site at:

http://www.gotransit.com/PUBLIC/en/station/Bicycles/Bicycles.htm

You may take a bicycle on any GO Train on a Saturday, Sunday, or statutory holiday.

On weekdays, due to rush-hour crowding, you may not take them on trains scheduled to arrive at Union Station between 6:30 and 9:30 a.m. or that leave Union Station between 3:30 and 6:30 p.m. Bicycles are also prohibited inside Union Station during those times.

Bicycles are permitted on all other trains, including weekday off-peak, and those travelling opposite to peak direction.

jamesmallon (not verified)

in the habit contradicting, not facts

Thu, 03/26/2009 - 15:27

Kevin, why are you in the habit of contradicting people, but not in the habit of checking your facts? I can take outbound GO trains, but am not allowed to take the bike into Union from 630 to 930, or disembark at Union from 330-630. http://www.gotransit.com/public/en/station/bicycles/bicycles.htm#bikeson...

On a Union-Port Credit commute, that means I can't use Union - I have to use Exhibition. Since the 653 train I want from Union doesn't stop at Exhibition, I'm supposed to go to... Mimico? I live in Cabbagetown.

The reality is, I sneak on or off the train at the head or foot of the platform, so I don't walk through the Union concourse. When a GO employee accosts me, I politely feign ignorance. This is the usual way a cyclist has to operate with the small-minded beurocracies of transit and policing in our city. Come back to the real world, and I'll listen to what you have to say.

Kevin Love

Read what I wrote

Thu, 03/26/2009 - 17:05

If you had bothered to read what I wrote, you would see that we have independently come up with the same solution.

As I wrote before:

"Please note that it is not allowed to take your bicycle into Union Station during peak hours. So during peak hours I always use the railway car on the West end of the train and use the Union platform's direct exit so as to avoid going into Union Station."

I almost never get hassled by GO employees. Usually I don't even meet any GO employees when I take the direct exit off the West end of the platform. On the extremely rare occasions when someone does bother me, I plaster a big smile on my face, pretend my IQ just dropped 50 points, and say something like "I thought it was OK as long as I didn't go into Union Station." I then cheerfully agree with whatever the GO employee says and go on my way.

jamesmallon (not verified)

dissappear

Thu, 03/26/2009 - 18:01

Kevin, please do.

geoffrey

Call for Better Passenger Rail Advocacy

Sat, 03/28/2009 - 09:22

http://streetsblog.net/2009/03/27/call-for-better-passenger-rail-advocacy/

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