UPDATES OCT 29/19

1) I received an email from Mary-Lynn Seeley, Executive Assistant from Caroline Mulroney's office (MPP). She asks that ***IF YOU ARE CONCERNED ABOUT THIS CHANGE, CONTACT HER VIA EMAIL DIRECTLY***. (see below) email: marylynn.seeley@pc.ola.org )

Hi Steve,

Thank you for your email.

I have brought this to the attention of the MTO. Have you had feedback from other riders in the area? If there are other people concerned about the change, please ask them to email me directly at marylynn.seeley@pc.ola.org.

I will be in touch soon.

With thanks

ML

2) The petition was provided to GO Transit on October 28th. KEEP THE SIGNATURES COMING THOUGH!!! After consulting with GO Customer Service via telephone, 113 signatures and all comments were sent to customerrelations@gotransit.com, Attention: Esther. I was told that as it stands, changes are going forward on Nov 2 but our petition will be reviewed and we can expect an email response (which will be posted as an update here).

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PETITION DETAILS:

GO Transit is proposing sweeping changes to the 66/66a bus route between Yorkdale and Newmarket GO Bus / East Gwillimbury train station (including Hwy 9/400 Carpool Lot and Major Mackenzie/400 Carpool lot). This proposed change essentially reduces scheduled service to half its current level, including reducing service during rush hours to hourly, with no indication of compensating changes to GO Transit alternatives serving these locations (i.e. - no additional trains/times). This proposed change was not open to stakeholder representation, nor the voice/feedback of commuting customers who depend upon this route to get to and from their workplace or educational institution (on a schedule) on a daily basis.

Furthermore, it is our understanding that the change involves "double decker" buses, which the Newmarket GO Bus station at Eagle Street cannot accommodate, so waiting/loading/unloading will be "roadside" instead of at the terminal proper, where parking and tickets are currently provided, which will further inconvenience customers, particularly coming into the approaching winter season.

We feel that this is an inappropriate and unjust move by GO Transit, especially considering the ongoing growth in York Region that this route serves. This will directly impact many people's commute in an extremely inconvenient manner, and we are hereby lodging a formal complaint and disapproval to GO TRANSIT management for not having considered the needs of their customer base in this decision.

We are hereby petitioning for the delay/abandonment of this "plan" until such time as GO customers who rely on this route have been fully heard and their interests properly represented. The East/West GTA corridor has historically been pandered to with considerably more GO options than those who live to the North of Toronto, and drastically cutting service schedules on an already limited corridor further frustrates the paying customers who routinely depend upon this service.