nfitz
Superstar
Even though they are on track to meeting their ridership targets?I predict it would remain a premium service but at reduced cost.
Even though they are on track to meeting their ridership targets?I predict it would remain a premium service but at reduced cost.
This, again?!?!?!If the UP Express is persistently empty then Metrolinx will face political pressure to lower the fares. Then again, they can't lower them much or the trains will be overcrowded, because of the shortsighted decision to build a spur to the airport that cannot accommodate regular GO trains.
Even though they are on track to meeting their ridership targets?
The 5,000 number was the same number that Metrolinx used in mid-June, shortly after opening. There's detailed pricing information with ridership forecasts, and this seems to be in line with it. Not sure all the fuss. Nothing new here ...Does the target have any value? Is it proof of a sustainable value added service, or is it just a number they pulled out of their ass to use as cover?
This, again?!?!?!
They built a spur that could easily and successfully handle the size of train that will fit in the space that was available to build a station.
How much more $ would you have been comfortable spending on an airport train link construction project to get 12 car (or even 10 car) GO trains to the airport?
The point is to run regular GO trains, so that workers in the area around the airport can use the trains, and so that people living in the area between Union and Pearson can use them, and charge regular fares.
The fact the train is empty at 5am isn't going to change with the ticket price.
the trains are only half full in the central part of the city (ridiculous that I can breathe and move around comfortably on them). Moscow, London, and Tokyo don't pull crap like that; not on all lines. TTC fares should clearly be $1 to fill the trains, or even paying people after midnight to ride the subway to ensure it's being used at full capacity. Taxpayers have a right to demand better having spent billions and billions and billions on TTC subways over the last 6 decades.
Significantly improving Georgetown service is the correct answer, including a future people mover access to the airport from the railway line. We spent $1B on infrastructure for that route too and service is non-existent at any price.
UPX is more about getting foreign investment into the city than it is actually moving people around. There are probably fewer than 10 rides per year that actually matter and those are very much worth the cost of the project. I've personally watched SBC divest of about $1.8B in Toronto investments (InQuent, Amdocs, ...) after getting stuck in traffic (and yes, that was the root cause).
There's already GO Train service to the airport area at Malton, Etobicoke North, and Bramalea stations. One of the benefits of the work done for Union Pearson is that they will run full-day service to these stations. Surely those between Uion and Pearson are primarily going downtown and will use GO.
I'm amazed that there are complaints that both ridership is too low AND the trains are too small!
The argument I've just seen is that the UPX isn't full in peak, so we should use it in peak for transit. GO is every 20-30 minutes in peak. If this is where people perceive there is the need, then how then is GO not useful?The regular GO train service only runs a few times a day and is pretty much useless right now.
Or longer. Lakeshore was very well used with only hourly service. And the source of power (electric over diesel) make little impact on it's usability.We will have to wait 10 years to have 15 minute electric GO service on this line.
$19 is outrageous? The cost for airport workers isn't much higher than GO from Union to Malton.The UP Express trains are empty because the fares are so outrageous.
You mean some key honchos got pissy when their limo bogged down?
The point is to run regular GO trains, so that workers in the area around the airport can use the trains, and so that people living in the area between Union and Pearson can use them, and charge regular fares. There are almost 300000 people working in that area and most of them currently drive causing massive traffic jams.The employment areas around Pearson are among the largest in the world. The design of the UP Express is really weird, being designed to accommodate tiny trains that are much smaller than what the rest of the GO train system uses.