By Pepper Parr
January 11th, 2020
BURLINGTON, ON
They were called Mobility Hubs in the beginning.
Then they got technical and called then MTSAs – short for Major Transportation Services area.
Not much colour or character in any of those.
So – the planners got creative and going forward they will be called:
Burlington Junction – for what we know as the Burlington GO station
Appleby Gateway – for what we know as the Appleby GO station
Aldershot Corners – for what we know as the Aldershot GO station.
Much better – wonder what the Metrolinx people will think about the change.
The graphic is the story of a real success. It marks the decision to move a lot of the development around the GO stations and it notes as well that this city council got rid of that hub/MTSA at the bottom.
I suppose drawings and names will let some people feel like there’s progress. I have finally come to the conclusion that there won’t be any truly usable transit in this city in my lifetime. It’s quite clear that the people who blather on about improvements and plans would never be caught actually using local transit so it won’t ever live up to all the hype and marketing. Burlington is, and will always be, too car dependent and a traffic maze.
Despite the caption, this graphic depicts absolutely nothing. Classic “circles and arrows” chart which apparently identifies North Shore blvd as a main thoroughfare – for symmetry, I guess.
Metrolinx won’t care. They messed up accessibility at Burlington GO years ago, after it cost us years of disruption and millions of dollars. I wrote to the CEO and asked for an explanation and nothing came of that. If you’re on crutches, blind or in a wheelchair, stay away from this station. Unfortunately, after years, I had to take the train to Whitby over Christmas. We now have several wickets (brand spanking new) all with closed signs. You can’t buy tickets anymore. Machines only. If the machines don’t work, you either miss the train, scramble to the wrong track or get on without a ticket. If the latter, you keep your money ready to pay the ticket police… Unfortunately, they are not allowed to take money and ask you to purchase your ticket on your phone or get off the train. If you’re lucky they waive the $100.00 fine. They may trust you and simply ask that you pay at the other end. Great – the other end has someone in the booth. Oh no, they are not allowed to sell you a ticket. Metrolinx is a joke.