Matt Elliott: More people take GO Transit on weekends now than before the pandemic. That may not be good news

Big number: 102%, the recovery rate of ridership across the GO Transit network of trains and buses on weekends and holidays this summer, compared to pre-pandemic levels.

Here's some good news: people in the GTA are increasingly taking public transit to get to weekend events like concerts and sports games.

Here's some bad news: public transit in the GTA doesn't seem to be doing a great job of getting them there.

Let's start with the good. A report to a meeting of the Metrolinx board of directors this month revealed some surprising numbers: on weekends, ridership across the GO Transit network of trains, buses and the UP Express has recovered by 102 per cent this summer when compared to pre-pandemic levels from 2019

In other words, there are now slightly more people using GO Transit on weekends than in 2019, despite most transit systems in North America still seeing a stubborn decline in ridership in the wake of COVID-19. It's an amazing statistic.

It points to a real mindset shift. No longer is GO just for the business crowd heading from the 905 to Bay Street office towers Monday through Friday. It's being embraced by people who are going to Blue Jays games, concerts at Scotiabank Arena and festivals like TIFF and Pride. (Weekday ridership, on the other hand, hasn't shown enough signs of recovery. It's at just 49 per cent of pre-COVID, per Metrolinx's most recent ridership report.)

There are a few reasons likely for the weekend increase. First, there's the cost. Earlier this year, GO introduced a weekend pass. For 10 bucks, you can ride as much as you want on any given Saturday, Sunday or holiday. For $15, you can get unlimited rides for an entire weekend.

That ridership has increased in the months since is a real testament to the transformative power of relatively cheap transit.

The other major draw for taking GO over driving is not having to deal with all the unpleasantness that comes with driving in Toronto. Sitting on a train is way more relaxing than fighting through downtown traffic jams.

But over the long term that reasoning will only hold if GO offers a level of service that actually gets you where you need to go in a reasonable amount of time.

So here's where the bad news comes in.

As geographer and transit aficionado Sean Marshall pointed out in a recent article on his blog, the increase in weekend ridership has not been matched by a commensurate increase in service. Train service on the Lakeshore West and Lakeshore East routes is still scheduled to run, at best, only every 30 minutes on weekends, even as riders report jam-packed trains. And service frequencies are even worse on the other rail and bus lines. On weekdays, you can take a train downtown from Brampton or Milton. On weekends? Tough luck. It's a bus ride for you.

And those buses are having a notoriously tough time actually getting downtown. On several weekends recently, GO has been forced to divert buses that would have been bound for Union Station to outlying GO Train stations, forcing passengers to make time-consuming extra transfers.

GO blames traffic, of course. Their buses are having trouble manoeuvring through jam-packed downtown streets, particularly Lake Shore Boulevard. Wait times get so long that service schedules are impossible to maintain.

But with a little political will, some extra transit funding, and a dollop of creative thinking, this problem could be fixed. Where possible, more train service should be scheduled on weekends. The demand is there. Where trains can't be run due to conflicts with freight train schedules, GO buses should be given the VIP treatment through downtown.

Treat them like they're movie stars in town for a film festival. Make way. Clear a path.

Maybe I sound glib, but there's real precedent for giving GO special preference. During the summer Toronto hosted the Pan Am Games in 2015, a network of HOV lanes was installed on GTA highways, primarily to help athletes get to venues on time. But benefits of the HOV lanes, in most cases available to those travelling in vehicles with at least three passengers, didn't just extend to the pole vaulters and shot putters. For everyday GO Transit riders, the impact was downright revelatory.

According to a Metrolinx report, buses were arriving up to 20 minutes ahead of schedule. It was likely the only time in the entire history of Toronto and GTA transit that people could complain about their buses showing up too early.

That's exactly the kind of service improvement GO transit needs right now. It's also the kind of improvement the growing cohort of weekend riders need to make sure they don't - out of frustration - return to using their cars to get around. Their new choice to take transit to get to weekend events is exactly what this region needs to help reduce emissions, improve traffic congestion and make downtown streets safer for cyclists and pedestrians.

The GTA has a weekend transit success story brewing. Please, GO Transit: don't let this go.

Matt Elliott is a Toronto-based freelance contributing columnist for the Star. Follow him on Twitter: @GraphicMatt