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Heading to the Toronto Island Airport, need a place to park a car, preferably cheap!

vo1one

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Hello all and thanks for reading!

I will be travelling to Toronto from the states in a week to fly out of the Toronto Island Airport on Porter. I will need a place to park. There is apparently limited (and costly) parking available at the airport itself, but with peak travel season upon us, I am worried that there won't be any spot available and much time would be spent with me driving around attempting to find somewhere to park. I had the idea of parking at a GO Train station with free parking, however the time limit listed on their website is 48 hours. I will need to park for over one week. I know VIA rail will let you park for longer, but often they have very limited spaces available depending on the station. I do not know how they distinguish between a VIA rail parking spot and a GO Transit parking spot when they share the same station. Also if I take the GO Train downtown does that prohibit me from using VIA rail parking? I will be crossing the border at Ft. Erie so if someone could suggest a course of action, I'd be very appreciative! Thanks again!
 
ya don't park at the airport. It's too expensive. I'm not entirely sure where the best place is to park, but if you can park on the outskirts of the city near a transit station and then take either GO or the TTC down to Union Station you can take Porter's free shuttle down to the Airport. The shuttle runs every ten minutes from the West side entrance of the Royal York Hotel (Across the street from Union Station)
 
ya don't park at the airport. It's too expensive. I'm not entirely sure where the best place is to park, but if you can park on the outskirts of the city near a transit station and then take either GO or the TTC down to Union Station you can take Porter's free shuttle down to the Airport. The shuttle runs every ten minutes from the West side entrance of the Royal York Hotel (Across the street from Union Station)

Yeah that was my intent, parking somewhere like Oakville and taking the train in then using the free shuttle. I think the trick will be finding somewhere I can park for more than 48 hours though as I guess most lots are geared for suiting commuters.
 
If you're driving all that way and parking for a week it wouldn't it have made more sense to park at Pearson? If you have to drive to some 905 VIA station and pay for a train ticket to Toronto it seems to negate any advantage of flying out of the island.
 
If you're driving all that way and parking for a week it wouldn't it have made more sense to park at Pearson? If you have to drive to some 905 VIA station and pay for a train ticket to Toronto it seems to negate any advantage of flying out of the island.

The advantage for me was at the time I booked for the route with the dates I need to fly it was about $120 per person cheaper than flying out of Pearson on Air Canada or WestJet. And if anyone was wondering, the reason why I'm not flying from the states is because the flight was about $450 per person more expensive!
 
It won't be helpful to you but this just points out the flip side to the convenience factor of the Island airport.

Yes it is hyper convenient (and cost effective) for people who live and/or work downtown but not for most who would have to travel to the airport.

The fact is there is no cheap "downtown" or "fringe of downtown" parking. It sounds like the flight itself made some significant savings for you, parking will eat into that.

When I compare a Porter flight to an AC flight I know that I save +/- $120 cab fare to and from Pearson and my office....so Porter has a margin to be competitive. People outside the city, or in the burbs, will learn to do the opposite calculation if they need to drive to the Porter flight.

The one place you might want to look at for parking is Ontario Place. Not sure what the rules/rates are during their out of season times but that is a massive parking lot that sits largely empty this time of the year and if you park at the very eastern edge of the lot it is not too too far a walk to the island airport.
 
The parking garage to my condo is perpetually empty. Just post on craigslist looking for a tennant who has an empty parking spot. You could probably get a week for $20.
 
Does anyone know what it costs to park on the island? I assume there is a ferry fee as well?

EDIT: Looking here, it appears to cost $15 for the ferry and $38 a day. Unfortunately, the price for the mainland lot is obscured.
 
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Thanks for the ideas everyone. I really do appreciate it.

I took a look at obtaining a temporary street parking permit. I found you could do it online and print the permit, but you're supposed to be a visitor of a resident in the area you need parking. It asks for a resident's name and address. I suppose I could just fake it out with something or "borrow" a name/address from the phone book in the area of interest :) I'll also have a look at Craigslist and Kijiji.

sjc, I looked at that exact street view as you posted yesterday! I knew there was "limited" parking at the foot of Bathurst as they advertise on Porter's page, but it wasn't until I looked at the satellite and street view that I realised just how limited it is! For what it's worth, it doesn't look like there are all that many spots on the island either when you consider how many must be reserved for staff, not to mention the price premium. To park in the mainland lot is cheaper. I don't recall the exact price; Porter gives out a phone number for the lot attendant rather than posting it as apparently the rates are variable depending on the day, season or perhaps demand.
 
There are cheaper lots in the city as well. This (http://maps.google.com/maps?client=firefox-a&hl=en&ie=UTF8&ll=43.664144,-79.377441&spn=0,359.99858&t=h&z=20&layer=c&cbll=43.664261,-79.37749&panoid=OUhMarCUZDu9A_eDiUPoZA&cbp=12,51.27,,0,12.83) lot is $7/day, and maybe a 5-10 minute walk from Wellesley station, which would just be another 5-10 minutes on the subway to get to Union and the Porter shuttle. You can park there as long as you want, provided you tell the attendant that you'll be awhile and pay up front.
 
It won't be helpful to you but this just points out the flip side to the convenience factor of the Island airport. Yes it is hyper convenient (and cost effective) for people who live and/or work downtown but not for most who would have to travel to the airport.

The Island Airport has very good access to most of the GTA through the GO train/subway and the Porter Shuttle to Union Station. However, for those outside of Toronto and traveling by car, Pearson will often be more convenient.

But for those without cars, the Island Airport is very convenient to a large proportion of Torontonians (anyone south of the 401 and east of the Humber) and pretty convenient to anyone that can get to a GO station (especially east and west along the lake). As you note, cabs are a good option as well for many (about $100 savings on the return fare to my apartment).

Actually, even with a car the island can be pretty convenient with quick access to the Gardiner and DVP -- just expensive.

I would think that all those out there that support increased use of transit and oppose all the highways in Toronto would be supporters of the Island Airport.

I wonder what percentage of Porter (vs. Pearson) passengers don't have cars (and conversely, what percentage of Toronto's carless air travellers do they get for regional flights)
 
Wouldn't the answer be to find somewhere with long-term parking? I'm not sure which direction the traveller is coming from, but perhaps a train station in Windsor, London, St. Catharines, or even Niagara Falls USA, and then take the train to Union, and streetcar to the pier?
 

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