GO train riders may soon have to pay for parking at GO stations, as the provincial transit agency, Metrolinx, considers a new revenue stream.
Parking at most GO lots is free on a first-come, first-serve basis, but that could change as Metrolinx is considering charging for spots to raise money to fund transit expansion in the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area (GTHA), according to a report in the Toronto Star.
Some GO customers already pay $80 a month to rent a spot at 11 stations, which represents only a fraction of available spaces.
The idea was reportedly floated at a Metrolinx meeting on Thursday night. There’s no word on how much the agency could charge or exactly how much money the initiative — if adopted — would raise.
The TTC collects $10-million a year from 13,000 parking spots, which means GO with its 65,000 parking spots could technically collect $50-million just in parking fees.
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Being charged for parking would certainly mean that I would never use the GO system.
Seriously!! Are they out of their minds? Give me a break!! I travel with my husband so we are payiing double the cost. Going to work via GO and TTC is costing us enough, it’s well over $5000.00 a year. To even consider more should be taken out of people’s pockets is simpy ridiculous. Commuters are stretched enough to travel in to work to earn their dollars. I’m sorry but we would drive in, you would lose money from us – Toronto the Green, I think you should question the sanity of the brains of the so called decision makers at Metrolinx – how would the city feel about GO riders jumping ship (GO) and all of of us driving our cars into this already overcrowded city. People please speak up loud and clear that we will all lose. I can only laugh at those who think the price of the GO ticket will come down to compensate parking costs. Yeah, like that is going to happen.
Move closer to work then. I totally support GO charging for parking. I also believe we should have zone based fares on the TTC. It’s about time people started paying for services they are using. I am totally opposed to paying more taxes to subsidize services which I don’t use.
What next? tolls on the kiss & ride?
Weird, they increase the fair, then they did unfair to service guarantee, they reduce the parking on few stations, they added but that is way to go with time, not reduce and sell the lots.
This is just making more money, yes, they can charge but then they need to reduce the fare, they will do that?
So parking costs are included in the price of a ticket? Why are those who don’t drive/park at GO being forced to pay for those who are?
MOST PEOPLE DRIVE TO THE GO STATION! It is afterall an inter-regional transit service. It connects the suburbs to the downtown Toronto. Taking Mississauga or Brampton Transit might work for some, but Milton, Bradford, etc.. really? You have to drive, there is no other option. If I’m going to pay for parking, I might as well drive downtown or to a TTC lot.
You say it’s $12 for gas vs $22 for GO/TTC? Did you factor in repairs to your car that will be much more frequent when you drive? Plus the hassle of trying to make an appointment that fits your schedule? Cars don’t fix themselves and certainly not for free either!!
It’s costing me almost 300 dollar a month on fair. A parking fee will make it to costly for me to take the train. Metrolinx is getting a little to greety for me. Car pooling is the way to go.
No public institution, be it government or otherwise, should raise fees unless they’ve proven that their costs are under control first. Fix your house from the inside before turning to your customers to buy you a bigger band aid.
Everyone saying that taking your car will be better if this goes through.. well enjoy your 2 hour drives in heavy traffic and even more so during snow storms! You will soon realize just why you started taking the train in the first place. Also, what many don’t seem to realize that this article has not mentioned, is that Metrolinx knows that the current fare structure includes parking fees, and that is one thing they will look at. So yes, perhaps lower ticket costs will be in the cards and people who want a parking spot will be paying more than someone who doesn’t want a parking
spot.. makes COMPLETE sense to me that way!
If they charge for parking, driving will be cheaper. Since driving is more convenient (for carrying groceries, getting exactly where you need to go, etc.) it would be the better option all around. I currently drive instead of taking transit because it’s $22 in GO/TTC compared to $12 in gas. This would make it worse. Transit is brutally expensive to begin with. People who take the GO to save on parking downtown would definitely drive instead if they had to pay parking anyway at GO.
How very frustrating. This on the heals of a Feb 1 fare increase. When do they cross the line of cost exceeding benefit. I’m already paying $316 a month now and walk to work because I can’t afford a Metro Pass too. Definately can’t afford the additional parking fees if Go Fares remains unchanged. Prohibitive to working in Toronto from the 905 regions.
As I am already paying ~$260.00 a month now, it would be cheaper to take my car to work. Even driving to the nearest TTC station and paying for a TTC pass would work out being cheaper. I would also not have to worry about freezing switches, signal problems and the other issues that GO experiences.
Maybe these communities should consider expropriating these parking lands and turn them over to their residents for free parking
Then it is no longer worth taking transit. Right now, for me, driving downtown (fuel, wear & tear, and parking) is EQUAL to my expense taking the GO Train. If they charge for parking, where is the incentive?
IF they do decide to charge for parking – they need to get very active with local city transit systems to provide better station connections (ie miWay) to provide better value to Public Transit.
They do that and I will no longer take the train, prices keep going up, and it already expensive enough as it is just to take the train. Think my car is sounding better every day