Quote:
Originally posted by san-hugo
Will not be a Flop. With presto card the fair is 19$. Return trip is 38$ for an adult , $16.15 for senior or a student and under $10 for a kid. The fare for Weston is as low as 11$. and 15$s to Bloor.
This will bring tourist, business traveler (generally time pressed and light on luggage) and people (shopper) waiting in transit to tourist destinations, hotels, malls and majority businesses along bay street in downtown with one day return trip.
I am sure there will be free shuttles at union station made available to improve on footfall in future, connecting other major downtown destinations and hotels.
Music and Sports loving fans and exhibitionists will be another set of consumers on certain days.
Family trip cost is bit high. Families do not go often to airport and will use taxi in any case. This is well rehearsed study done prior to investing millions of dollars and deciding on fair.
The only change I see in future is since 140 trips a day is towards higher side may be due to panam games this summer, might come down in future.
Then there is the prestige issue.
Toronto is the Bombay of Canada and likes to compare itself to great cities like London, Paris, Moscow, New York etc. If London has train service from Airport, then Toronto also must have one.
As you mentioned, they have Pan Am games this year. This service is primarily for tourists and downtown discount travelers. Business travelers mostly take taxis. Union Station would mean access to the subway.
Location: God's own country
Posted on: 08-06-15 09:23:27
After reading all the comments, I hope that I have my analysis right.
There was a lot of discussion previously of how useful the Island airport was to the city. To make it a world class city (business) they wanted businessmen to fly to union station and attend meetings and fly away. However there was problems for expaning the Island airport and to create the underground tunnel.
Then some idiot thought of having a direct service from Union to pearson.
No doubt that it will be helpful to the city but it is in the mid of the important things needed for the city.
It will surely help Panam games but after that will turn into a white elephant. I never see it as making any profit for the rest of its life time.
It will but have 10% to 20 % capacity only.
I agree with Elmer that it is a prestege issue for Canadians (who consider Toronto as the centre of Canada). Now all reviews of Toronto will have the line that the airport is connected to the city centre and that you can reach it in 25 mins.
Murali
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I am a Gents and not a Ladies.
Quote:
Originally posted by san-hugo
Will not be a Flop. With presto card the fair is 19$. Return trip is 38$ for an adult , $16.15 for senior or a student and under $10 for a kid. The fare for Weston is as low as 11$. and 15$s to Bloor.
This will bring tourist, business traveler (generally time pressed and light on luggage) and people (shopper) waiting in transit to tourist destinations, hotels, malls and majority businesses along bay street in downtown with one day return trip.
I am sure there will be free shuttles at union station made available to improve on footfall in future, connecting other major downtown destinations and hotels.
Music and Sports loving fans and exhibitionists will be another set of consumers on certain days.
Family trip cost is bit high. Families do not go often to airport and will use taxi in any case. This is well rehearsed study done prior to investing millions of dollars and deciding on fair.
The only change I see in future is since 140 trips a day is towards higher side may be due to panam games this summer, might come down in future.
Tourist don't have Presto cards, plus presto card is a $ 6 cost. That tourist landing at the airport has NO clue what a Presto Card is.
This is not a well rehearsed study at all , just like the TTC Shepphard subway line which is a joke. People hardly take that subway. They should have built that line left of Yonge instead of right of Yonge, atleast they would have been able to connect it with York University,mwhere 50,000 students go.
This will be a half a billion dollar money losing venture.
Except for rush hour , you can reach downtown Toronto by cab,car,limo in 25 mins anyways..its about 30 km from Pearson to DT.
People forget Airport is a 24/7 , 365 days a year operation..the planes landing at the airport don't really care about Toronto rush hour. The number of planes landing at rush hour and other hours is pretty much the same.
So passengers landing or going to the airport at non rush hours will just take a cab and door to door service if its cheaper and less hassle with carrying luggage etc.
Most people do the following so this train is competing with that :
1. Take limo or cab to airport. 50-60 bucks.
2. Now with the new Uber its even cheaper as the Uber guys have very little overheads. Lot of PT drivers even students doing it for some extra income on the side with UBER. Depending on day and time , you can pay much less than cab and the cars are more clean and nice. You might get RAPED or MOLESTED if you are a woman , but some women will take that risk to save some money. 40-50 bucks.
3. Ask a friend or family member to drop them or pick them at the airport . Expect cheap desis or black people to ask for GAS money or some other favour in return. Gas about 5 bucks for one way.
4. Take your own car and park at the airport at PARK N Fly parking lot. quite cheap if you book online and go for self service. They even have complimentary shuttle buses. I know people who go to Mexico or Florida for a week and just park their car there for a week and when they return their OWN car is waiting for them.
5. People also on Kijiji advertising cheap pick up and drop off at airport. again the same risk of rape and molestation exists when taking a ride with a stranger to save some money.
6. For $ 3.00 take the TTC subway train from Union to Kipling subway station. Then take the TTC 192 Airport Rocket bus. The actual time will be 75 mins to 90 mins , although the TTC foolishly and falsely advertise it as 45 mins on their website.
7. Other options like GO bus to downtown from Pearson also exists.
I feel this is yet another bad decision from people who are managing public funds akin to the Oakville gas plant fiasco.
I fully agree with AT above .. We already have a $3/- connectivity from Union to the Airport .. okay it takes an hour but why would anyone want to pay $24 extra for arriving 20 mins earlier ... There are already cabs existing for those people....
And even if there are a few pseudo privileged individuals , would they be enough to make this profitable or is it going to be a waste of public funds ..I think most likely the latter .... They should work on other areas of the subway which are getting suffocated .
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Fido.
I think they are trying match up with London, Rome and other famous cities.
True, it doesn't look that attractive from short term perspective, perhaps a big deal as the traffic grows and people prefer a straight line to Downtown in place of transfers and stops.
Sort of aimed at the tourists, I would say.
I had my days driving to Downtown to work, and pleasure of returning home via Gardiner and then 427 / 401 gridlock. This scene stays the same more over all evenings and it would exclusively help the travelers leaving during that time.
Anyhow, YYZ is the champion of the champion in Real estate even beating all third world countries if figures are summed up for the last 15 years. An outsider would easily think this city (ultra hot) deserves such facility...
Quote:
Originally posted by Fido
I feel this is yet another bad decision from people who are managing public funds akin to the Oakville gas plant fiasco.
I fully agree with AT above .. We already have a $3/- connectivity from Union to the Airport .. okay it takes an hour but why would anyone want to pay $24 extra for arriving 20 mins earlier ... There are already cabs existing for those people....
And even if there are a few pseudo privileged individuals , would they be enough to make this profitable or is it going to be a waste of public funds ..I think most likely the latter .... They should work on other areas of the subway which are getting suffocated .
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The cowards never started,
The weak died on the way,
Only the strong arrived.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_yK1i9cLAMM
Quote:
Originally posted by happywoman36
It is cheaper than a taxi and given that it is a direct line with no traffic it actually is a bargain. I would not compare to the TTC as this is stop and go and awkward when carrying luggage with you. Wouldn't compare it to driving either as parking at airport adds up really quickly (plus gas and time in traffic). Cost is around $27 versus taxi @ $50. Great means of travelling from Conventions Centres that host great warehouse sales and having a means of moving them easily to downtown TO afterwards (rather than bus).
Cheaper only if 1 person is travelling.
If 2 are travelling its almost the same.
If 2 + then its more expensive.
Plus with taxi you will get door to door service. Very unlikely you live exactly at Union. You will have chug along your luggage upto Union anyways
..either by TTC, taxi or walking..might as well take it all the way to Kipling Station and take the TTC 192 Rocket from there.
