GO adds new parking to packed King City station

thestar.com
Oct. 9, 2015
By Tess Kalinowski

It won't be enough to fill the demand but 72 new parking spaces at the King City GO station should alleviate a little of the commuter crush there starting Tuesday.

Construction will begin later this fall on another 60 spaces that will be available in the spring.

The 72 new spaces bring the total spaces at King City to 538.

"We’re expanding parking here to make it easier for people to choose transit first. Helping our customers get to and from our GO stations as quickly and conveniently as possible is critical in ensuring our GO train network can keep them moving in their everyday lives," said GO vice-president of customer service, Mary Proc in a statement on Friday.

Demand for parking has been exceeding the available GO spaces by about 110 cars on a typical weekday at King City but temporary spots are available while the new ones are being built.

With 69,000 spaces across the system, GO is the biggest parking provider in the Toronto region. It has added 31,000 new parking spots across the system in the last 12 years.

While regional transit officials grapple with ways of encouraging riders to take local transit, bike and ride share to their stations, most GO commuters still drive to their trains.

With GO expecting to increase the number of train trips by 50 per cent in the next five years, demand is likely to continue to climb.