Since May 1967, GO Transit has evolved from a single GO Train line
along Lake Ontario’s shoreline into an extensive network of train lines
and bus routes. Since service began, more than a billion riders have
taken the GO Train or Bus – to work or school, to go home, or for
leisure activities. GO provides its passengers with safe, fast,
reliable, comfortable service to downtown Toronto and other urban
centres.
Background
On May 14, 2009, GO Transit officially merged with
Metrolinx. The merger maximizes the two organizations’ strategy
and planning expertise and implementation and operations know-how to
build rapid transit projects faster and improve customer service.
The Minister of Transportation sets the strategy and policy
framework for Metrolinx, and
the Board provides business direction to staff.
Visit the
Ministry of Transportation website for other information.
We recover most of our operating costs through revenue,
consistently bringing in 80% to 90% of what we need to run our
service from the farebox — one of the best financial performances
for any transit system in the world.
The Provincial government subsidizes any operating costs that are
not recovered through revenue. It is also responsible for the base
capital funding needed for rehabilitation and replacement, to keep
our system in a state of good repair. For growth and expansion
capital costs, the province provides one-third of GO’s capital
funding needs, with the understanding that the federal and municipal
governments will contribute the remaining two-thirds.
Our service area
GO Transit service
map
GO Trains and GO Buses serve a population of seven million in an
11,000-square-kilometre area, stretching from Hamilton and
Kitchener-Waterloo in the west to Newcastle and Peterborough in the
east, and from Orangeville, Barrie and Beaverton in the north to
Niagara Falls in the south. We connect with every municipal transit
system in the Greater Toronto and Hamilton areas, including the
Toronto Transit Commission (TTC).
The Greater Toronto Area consists of the City of Toronto and the
surrounding Regions of Halton, Peel, York, and Durham. GO Transit
also serves the neighbouring City of Hamilton, and reaches into
Simcoe, Dufferin, and Wellington Counties.
Our seven train lines are Lakeshore West, Milton, Kitchener,
Barrie, Richmond Hill, Stouffville, and Lakeshore East. At peak
rush-hour periods, train service is available at all stations.
In weekday off-peak hours, trains run only on the Lakeshore
between Oshawa in the east and Aldershot in the west, and on the
Kitchener line between Union Station in the east and Bramalea in the
northwest. On weekends, trains run only between Oshawa in the east
and Aldershot in the west. Bus connections extend our Lakeshore
service to Newcastle in the east and Hamilton in the west.
Off-peak GO Buses between Union Station and other train stations
(sometimes nicknamed train-buses) give passengers more choice when
travelling to and from downtown Toronto before and after rush hour
when the trains aren’t scheduled to run, even on weekends. More
riders are choosing Union Station buses because they appreciate
having the flexibility of travelling one way by train and the other
by bus.
Ridership
GO runs 203 train trips and 2,184 bus trips daily, carrying about
259,500* passengers on a typical weekday — 185,000 on the trains and
74,500 by bus. Our ridership growth has continually exceeded
expectations: The original GO Train service carried 2.5 million
passengers in 1967, the first year of operation; today the combined
rail and bus system handles 65 million riders annually.
At least 96% of our train ridership is to and from Union Station
in downtown Toronto, while about 70% of all bus passengers travel to
and from the City of Toronto.
*Average weekday ridership in February 2013
GO by the numbers
United Way
GO Transit is a proud supporter of the
United Way. GO is committed to supporting causes that matter to
customers, employees and local communities. The aim is to make a
real difference in the lives of people in need through donations and
the volunteer spirit of our customers and employees.
Railways in our community
GO Transit manages over 270 km of Metrolinx-owned railway
corridors, corresponding to about 64 per cent of the total railway
network that GO Trains regularly operate over. By keeping these
corridors and the nearly 500 km of track they contain properly
maintained, GO Transit’s Railway Corridors staff help ensure that
every week approximately one million train passengers get where they
need to be going, safely and reliably.
Learn
more
