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My family is planning to take the Go Train from Kitchener to Toronto tomorrow.  My wife will be working in toronto a couple days a week so we want to try the train out for size.  I really don't want her driving the 401 twice a week (along with additional trips to Pearson).  

Question.......the go Train website states no parking, parking on site shows $7 per day.  Is this only for VIA riders, or do Go Train users park in the pay lot as well?  Is there other options for parking nearby (i.e. on the street)?

Anyone have hints or tips for being a GoTrain rider?

Thanks!
(08-27-2017, 08:12 PM)Cartcanuck Wrote: [ -> ]My family is planning to take the Go Train from Kitchener to Toronto tomorrow.  My wife will be working in toronto a couple days a week so we want to try the train out for size.  I really don't want her driving the 401 twice a week (along with additional trips to Pearson).  

Question.......the go Train website states no parking, parking on site shows $7 per day.  Is this only for VIA riders, or do Go Train users park in the pay lot as well?  Is there other options for parking nearby (i.e. on the street)?

Anyone have hints or tips for being a GoTrain rider?

Thanks!

https://www.google.ca/maps/@43.4538692,-...312!8i6656

This parking lot in Kitchener, near the station is intended for GO Train commuters.  Sign shows 12 dollars daily, not sure if there is a deal for GO Commuters or not.

I'm pretty sure you're welcome to use the station lot for GO trains, you just pay, same as any user.  It's only VIA because they own the station and hence the parking.  That being said, whenever I've walked past there, the lot has been completely full, so I'd guess if you're taking the later train, you'd be looking elsewhere, but maybe an earlier one, there would be space, I cannot say for sure.

Of course, any of the Kitchener municipal lots should work as well, but most are a little bit of a walk.  Unfortunately, street parking is limited to 2 (or 3) hours, so it wouldn't be an option for an all day commute, without the risk of getting a ticket.

If you know anyone in the Kaufman lofts, or other nearby condos (or homes for that matter), you could borrow their space, I know some individuals are also interested in renting their spaces out, so if it were an ongoing thing, you could also look into that longer term, if none of the other options meet your needs.

Hope this helps.
(08-27-2017, 08:26 PM)danbrotherston Wrote: [ -> ]Hope this helps.

That does help for sure.  Thanks for the reply.  We will try to get into the station parking lot tomorrow.  If not, we have that as a fallback plan.  

I'm surprised there isn't a lot more parking on site.  Are there THAT few Go Train riders?  I've found plans online for the transit hub and find that encouraging.  I've also seen talk about plans for a station in Baden.  THAT would be the perfect situation for us.  But who knows when that will happen.

Thanks again!
I too am baffled at the parking situation. I see it as totally the blockage to getting more ridership. Cars are parked in every possible area in the tiny lot there at the station!

Not everyone lives within walking distance of the station. And the bus doesn't run early enough...
It's not super close but you can park about a block away by the Rumpel Felt building at Victoria/Duke. There's a machine that is supposed to let you get a free pass for the day if you get there early enough for the train, but last time I tried to use it it was broken, i.e. free anyway.

Get there early so you have enough time to buy tickets at the platform. You'll want to get a Presto card for future trips though.
The lot pictured in the google link above has a sign (not legible in that link) that if you arrive befor 7am, your parking is free. I'm not sure if it's a ticket dispense that's free if activated before 7am, or some kind of parking check at that hour, but there are several vehicles there most days. If you were parking at almost any lot in the GO system, the walk from that lot to the GO platform compares very favourably with the parking lot to platform distances elsewhere (mind you there are two crosswalks to deal with, but Duke is in your favour and Weber cycles frequently.

Until that lot fills with GO commuters, there is no reason to try accommodating more parking in the downtown core (Canard). While some users might be "lucky" to park right at the platform, GO as a whole is based on the idea of parking swamps, where few get to walk short distances to their train, and this lot fits rather nicely within the typical walking distance established as standard for GO users who arrive by car.
I didn't know the lot there by Rumple Felt was open to anyone - thanks for that. Had I not known that (from your post), though - only driving by, I would have seen the overflowing lot every day and any time I might have thought "Hmm, I could take the GO Train to Toronto", it would be instantly turned down by thinking "...but then I would have nowhere to park, so I can't count on that as a viable transport option. Better just drive instead."

I like going out of Aldershot if I want to take the GO Train into Toronto (on a weekend), because I know the lot is massive and I don't have to have the anxiety of trying to find a parking space.

(Just trying to bring my viewpoint, and the viewpoint of probably a good deal of many other people, to the table as well for balance. But all of this belongs in the dedicated GO thread, not in this thread, which was about helping out a member of our fantastic online community with a question.)
Burlington can be better if you're going to be doing a lot of walking; you don't have to go underground to get back to your car because there's a paved path that goes right to the parking garage from the end of the westbound platform. Easier on the joints, plus you don't have to clean off your car or scald yourself on your seats when you get back to it.
The Rumpel lot is signed for the purpose, just not very well.
Right, that's what I'm getting at. We lived at the Kaufman Lofts for years and I had no idea.
Rumpel Felt.
What would be good to do would be to ask why the GO website page for Kitchener (http://www.gotransit.com/publicroot/en/t...ation=KITC) lists no parking available. It doesn't list the parking right at the station (which I believe you have to pay for, and that might mean GO doesn't want to talk about it), nor does it list the Rumpel Felt lot (which is free but only if you arrive before a certain hour). I didn't think it would be possible for them to ignore those options, but it's a VERY legitimate question to ask why they aren't listed on the website (which is the first place I would look, were I to require a car to get to a GO station), and makes it very hard to believe that we are getting maximum ridership if we are telling people, falsely, that they have to get a ride (drop-off, GRT, taxi, walk, bike) to the station (eve if I would personally always prefer people to have the option to do).
(08-29-2017, 08:38 AM)Viewfromthe42 Wrote: [ -> ]What would be good to do would be to ask why the GO website page for Kitchener (http://www.gotransit.com/publicroot/en/t...ation=KITC) lists no parking available. It doesn't list the parking right at the station (which I believe you have to pay for, and that might mean GO doesn't want to talk about it), nor does it list the Rumpel Felt lot (which is free but only if you arrive before a certain hour). I didn't think it would be possible for them to ignore those options, but it's a VERY legitimate question to ask why they aren't listed on the website (which is the first place I would look, were I to require a car to get to a GO station), and makes it very hard to believe that we are getting maximum ridership if we are telling people, falsely, that they have to get a ride (drop-off, GRT, taxi, walk, bike) to the station (eve if I would personally always prefer people to have the option to do).

Metroxlinx owns neither of those lots (one is owned by Via, one is owned by the Region).  The website correctly reports that metrolinx provides no parking at the Kitchener GO Station.  Never mind that this isn't a useful or relevant distinction for actual commuters, but it makes sense in the bureaucracy that is metrolinx.

I do wonder how many stations are in this situation.  I doubt there are many.  Our's might be an exception in that way, given that we have no park and ride station nearby.
(08-29-2017, 07:37 AM)panamaniac Wrote: [ -> ]Rumpel Felt.

?
Here you go.  Confirmation.  The sign is there, it's just been knocked down and is laying next to the ticketing station.  Free parking for Go Train riders if you arrive before 7:10am (the time the last train to Toronto departs). 

 I don't know how you get a ticket for your dash or if you need one.  It doesn't explain that.  

Oh yeah, a little tidbit I learned coming back from Toronto on Monday.  The 4:50pm train from Union Station is an express train and saves nearly 20-30 minutes off the ride.  If you're coming back from toronto, try to get this train.  It's packed up until the first station (Bramalea? or something like that) and then seats are plentiful.  (Lookit that, I'm commenting like a Go Transit veteran already!!)

Our first experience on the train was overall positive.  Right on time, comfortable, and mostly convenient.  People out of Union Station actually gave up their seats for my two kids to sit on a packed train.  That surprised me a little, but it likely saved them from getting trampled at that first stop LOL

*edit: not sure why the whole picture isn't showing, it's a low res version of what I shot on my iphone, likely just wrong dimensions
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