Costco gas station is causing massive traffic snarls, proposes to fix things by making them worse
Everybody knows what a Boxing Day door-crasher sale at a big box store is like, right? Now imagine that chaos, only with a crowd of SUVs and minivans instead of consumption-mad shoppers. That’s basically the scene at Warden and Ellesmere these days, thanks to Costco selling gas the same way they sell everything: with big, big discounts.
The Toronto Star reports:
Since opening this fall, the gas bar near Warden and Ellesmere Aves. has seen a daily wall of cars, with drivers flocking from as far away as Whitby for discounts of up to 10 cents a litre.
The markdowns are only offered to the warehouse chain’s paying members. Even so, the lineup of cars entering the gas bar off Canadian Rd. are so long that paid-duty police and Costco staff in orange vests help direct traffic to the pumps…
Costco knows the situation isn’t ideal. Its proposed solution? Add four more pumps to the congested gas bar’s current 12 to take off some of the pressure.
Costco’s solution, of course, will only make things worse. The problem isn’t the shortage of gas pumps—it’s the shortage of road space leading to and from the station. We assume Costco staff have some skill in managing a supply chain, so we’re pretty sure they understand stuff like this. City staff, on the other hand, seem to have been totally gobsmacked by this highly predictable development—which local councillor Michael Thompson, in fact, predicted. Normally we like to grumble about councillors on the wrong end of arguments with staff, but for once it looks like a councillor actually came out looking better.
• Neighbours fuming over chaos at Costco gas bar [Toronto Star]
I am a frequent Costco member at this Costco location and it is insane how many people line up for gas! The Costco staff and cops handle the crowds pretty good. They have an organized system to move store customers around those waiting in line .. until the line back up onto Ellesmere and onto Warden.
It’s funny because people are driving to Costco to wait up to an hour for gas .. Why not pay regular price instead of idling your car and wasting the gas you have.
I’m an unclear as to why adding four pumps will “of course” make things worse. If Costco had 100 pumps it could be presumed there wouldn’t be a line up, so somewhere between its existing 12 pumps and 100 pumps is an amount of pumps at which it keeps up to demand.
I’m confused why this basic concept of supply and demand seems ridiculous.
If a restaurant has line ups with 150 seats, would it be even busier with 300 seats?