Found this report online today and it had some very interesting statistics they’ve collected on who uses the GO Station in Milton, how many drive, bike, walk etc. As you might have heard Metrolinx has started up what they call the BIG MOVE. Its a plan for the next 25 years to look at options and create a transit system that can be integrated together to help promote increased use. There are $56 BILLION projects planned and of course it takes money. Part of this BIG MOVE is to find out the HOW we pay for it.
One of the issues I have with this whole process is that the provincial government (who runs Metrolinx) is essentially only discussing options for “dedicated revenue sources” which in government speak means TAXES. Everything is on the table from dedicated gas tax increases, sales tax increases, congestion taxes, parking levies for businesses and the list goes on.
This blog post wont get into my disdain for the “tax first” mentality but to go over some statistics they’ve collected from Milton GO transit riders and review them to see what we can do first locally before jumping into the “dedicated revenue sources” discussion.
Here are some of the statistics that I found interesting:
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1,910 people end their trip at Milton GO Station (ie from out of town – mostly Cambridge/Guelph western riders)
2,720 people start their trip at Milton GO Station.
Of the 2,720 people starting their trip here, 86% use car, 7% walk, 4% bike/other and 3% use transit.
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GO Station access
76% of people drive and park
12% of people who drive get dropped off
7% of trips are made by local transit (not including GO Bus)
5% of trips to GO Station are made by walking
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Majority of GO customers 74% live within 5KM of the GO station.
With all the discussion going on about the Big Move www.bigmove.ca and coming up with ideas to fund this massive investment in transit, what kind of funding sources can be used here? Parking fees?
My beef with the Big Move is that the provincial government agency Metrolinx have set up these meetings to discuss what needs to be done. Forget for a second that they’ve moved plans for Milton expansion from their 15 year plan to 16-25 year plan, one could say that a case is being made for charging for GO parking. Now given our current service level, I don’t think charging for parking is appropriate seeing how we have limited number of trains for this location but if there was increased service/flexibility would it be an idea you’d consider?
This goes out to those who take the GO in the morning and drive/park to the station. What is stopping you from using Milton Transit?