03-18-2017, 02:36 PM
...and that's exactly it. Pick a weekday morning and drive by the GO/VIA station after all 4 morning trains have left. There are cars crammed into every possible space in that tiny, tiny lot - there is nowhere else to go.
So, if you're a commuter to Toronto who was even thinking about taking the GO train... you're not going to do it, because you've got nowhere to park. If you happen to live close enough to walk or bike to the station, that's great - but draw a circle a kilometre or so around the station and that's about as far as people are willing to hike it at 5am, I'd bet.
Now, put a lot and station just East of the city, and suddenly, you can capture thousands of potential riders from the edges of town in all those new big subdivisions. Sure, "we" don't like that kind of development... but it's there, and it exists, and people like living there.
So, if you're a commuter to Toronto who was even thinking about taking the GO train... you're not going to do it, because you've got nowhere to park. If you happen to live close enough to walk or bike to the station, that's great - but draw a circle a kilometre or so around the station and that's about as far as people are willing to hike it at 5am, I'd bet.
Now, put a lot and station just East of the city, and suddenly, you can capture thousands of potential riders from the edges of town in all those new big subdivisions. Sure, "we" don't like that kind of development... but it's there, and it exists, and people like living there.