Monday, April 22, 2019

I don't think any of us were ready to pay more

I figured I'd be well into 20-plus years of commuting before I saw the day it would cost me more than $20 round-trip into work each day. But here we are - 2019 - and it's $10.31 one-way with Presto from Oshawa to Union Station.

But wait! There's more!

If you live less than 10 km away from Union Station and would like to avoid the TTC, for the bargain price of $3.70, down $2 prior to April 20th, you can cram onto a GO train and join us all. Ain't it grand all of us in the 905 are subsidizing this for you?

You're welcome.

Oh, and all the kids under 13 who ride for free, you're welcome, too.


G said...

I say this every time they bump up the fare, but we're long past the point where it's actually cheaper for a couple that both work downtown to drive than it is for them to take the GO Train. Do we really want to create an economic incentive to have more cars on the 401?

Squiggles said...

Yeah, another reason to work from home more. I already quit taking the bus to the train station as it was no longer convenient or cheap. So just taking the train, it will cost me $18/day to go into the office. And for what service? We had so many delays this past winter, even for days without an issue!

They have yet to fix the bandaid at Guildwood. If the money were going towards that, I wouldn't get so upset. Instead it is going towards the hellspawn that is brought onto the train and those people that travel less than 10km. On super packed trains. That is going to be a joy.

Skin Man said...

Yeah I was beyond pissed when I saw that the longest commuters were going to start subsidizing the shortest ones!!!!

Bicky said...

Playing devil's advocate here - the cheaper shorter distance fares also works for stops like Whitby to Ajax or Ajax to Pickering. It's not just for those going to Union from a Toronto station.

Anonymous said...

And the long-distance riders were paying less per km than the short trips. So, who was subsidising whom, again?

CJ Smith said...

Ah, good point.

Anonymous said...

I completely agree, I don't have kids and I'm sick and tired of subsidizing everyone else's! I'm also sick and tired of paying for the downtown elites to get cheaper fares while we all get hosed - once again. I pay this service over $4000 a year, and the service is now horrible, overcrowded trains, less options (lakeshore west - did anyone else notice that some rush hour trains have disappeared?)

G said...

I have mixed feelings about the kids... commuting during the week I hardly ever saw under-15s on the train except during special events (e.g., the CNE... sigh). But on the upside it makes it a viable option for weekend trips into the city which would otherwise be outrageously expensive as a family (4*$20 for round trips from Oshawa? You could get valet parking downtown for that much!)

The downtowners are really out of touch when it comes to the cost of commuting, though. I can't help but laugh when they complain about TTC fare increases. I mean, the run from Union to Scarborough Town Centre is 25km and costs a whole $3.25 if you're paying cash.

Rob said...

I'm a bit late commenting on this one but when Metrolinx announced the latest round of fare increases, they cited all the service improvements they made over the last year. These are the same service improvements they were touting didn't cost any money because they were provided by redeploying existing resources - remember how there were problems with trains and buses running late when the schedules were revised - there were teething pains.

I wasn't ready to pay more either. The effective 18% increase between Metrolinx/Go and the tax credit getting chopped was a serious blow on top of a long run of 7+ percent increases every year on fares from Hamilton or Burlington to Union. I can't believe it's over $10 each way between Burlington and Union now and that doesn't even factor in the cost of driving to or from the station. Cue the sarcasam: Well, I'm glad the increased costs on me travelling between my far-flung fixer-upper and work are subsidizing Torontonians living in million dollar houses.