04-15-2016, 08:56 AM
Frequency is key if you are attempting to attract random rides, or the destination isn't that regular or important, such that the inconvenience of determining when a train will come dissuades its use entirely.
However, here in Kitchener with GO, we're talking about a 100% increase in frequency, with almost zero new interest. A 2-hour trip doesn't appeal to many people. If you could still have just those two morning departures, only it took 1h instead of 2h, I bet you'd see far more Kitchener ridership than having four trains which took 2h journeys to Union. Similarly, you can always get a flight to Chicago from YKF and transfer there to go almost anywhere in the world. Yet, when we have shorter, direct flights to sunny destinations in winter, they sell quite well, because poor frequency but good speed outdraws good frequency with terrible speed. I even see it in my colleagues here. They refuse to work certain hours because if they came and left at the times required, their commute would be 1.5h each way. Instead, they choose to leave at a particular (if early, and slightly inconvenient) time each day, so that their commute is just 35-45 minutes each way (good speed, poor "frequency" due to required travel times). They've gone on during ION construction that if their commute were guaranteed to be 1.5h each way (terrible speed, good "frequency" because you can take that terrible commute anytime), they'd just get a job elsewhere. I also make a commute like this: I show up 5 minutes early for a 25 minute bus ride, giving me a 30-minute commute that only comes every 30 minutes. I would not trade this for a commute which came every 5 minutes but took an hour to get me to work.
Note: frequency is not the same as new service, i.e. GO service for people who want to work in Kitchener rather than Toronto.
However, here in Kitchener with GO, we're talking about a 100% increase in frequency, with almost zero new interest. A 2-hour trip doesn't appeal to many people. If you could still have just those two morning departures, only it took 1h instead of 2h, I bet you'd see far more Kitchener ridership than having four trains which took 2h journeys to Union. Similarly, you can always get a flight to Chicago from YKF and transfer there to go almost anywhere in the world. Yet, when we have shorter, direct flights to sunny destinations in winter, they sell quite well, because poor frequency but good speed outdraws good frequency with terrible speed. I even see it in my colleagues here. They refuse to work certain hours because if they came and left at the times required, their commute would be 1.5h each way. Instead, they choose to leave at a particular (if early, and slightly inconvenient) time each day, so that their commute is just 35-45 minutes each way (good speed, poor "frequency" due to required travel times). They've gone on during ION construction that if their commute were guaranteed to be 1.5h each way (terrible speed, good "frequency" because you can take that terrible commute anytime), they'd just get a job elsewhere. I also make a commute like this: I show up 5 minutes early for a 25 minute bus ride, giving me a 30-minute commute that only comes every 30 minutes. I would not trade this for a commute which came every 5 minutes but took an hour to get me to work.
Note: frequency is not the same as new service, i.e. GO service for people who want to work in Kitchener rather than Toronto.