New environmental assessment rules will speed GO improvements

The Ontario government has approved a new, streamlined environmental assessment that GO Transit says it will take advantage of to speed up its plans for expanded service.

The six-month process will help projects like bus lanes and new subway lines go forward after six months of public consultation.Previously, an environmental assessment might have taken as much as three years.

"The six-month process helps get transit projects up and running as quickly as possible and people onto public transit sooner," said Ontario Transportation Minister Jim Bradley in a statement.

GO says it will make use of the faster process and hopes to add millions more commuter trips every year with its new services.

"The Ontario government wants GO to expand, and this streamlined EA process is a strong signal that they are cutting out red tape to make it happen," said GO chair Peter Smith in a news release.

Commuter wants better service

For Nilaye Thakrar, who lives in Mississauga, the service improvements can't come soon enough.

He takes the GO Train route to and from Miltonthat only operates during rush hour.

"It's a very inconvenient route," he said "There's only a handful of trains in the morning and evening, otherwise if you miss that window you are forced to take the GO Bus. I think expanding the route would be quite good for people like me."

Bob Delaney, MPP for Mississauga-Streetsville, says the new service will not just bring workers to Toronto it will also offer more flexibility to people going he other way.

"If we have all-day GO service, this is going to enable people who come into Mississauga from Toronto to be able to take the train to work," he said.

Improvements to the Milton service is one of the first projects envisioned by GO.It also hopes to expand service eastward to Bowmanville.

But even with the streamlined environmental assessment, GO says it will take about three years to build the tracks needed for the expanded service.

GO Transit is Ontario's only interregional public transit system, linking Toronto with the surrounding regions of the Greater Toronto Area, carrying more than 50 million passengers a year in a network of train and bus services.