Toronto Union Pearson Express | ?m | ?s | Metrolinx | MMM Group Limited

[Napoleon]

Tourists also need ways to get around the city, and many of them use public transportation for that, so I wouldn't be surprised if they end up on the TTC website. They don't only care about getting from the airport to their hotel.

Well, my usual plan for figuring out transportation is to just directly use Google maps. They very much include UPX, almost to the exclusion of the TTC routes.
Sample map to the Fairmount Royal York:
https://goo.gl/maps/bErYi8TxWP92

What seems like common knowledge to Torontonians maybe completely foreign concepts to visitors. Look at Tokyo - a myriad of operators and services, and multiple ways to get to/from the airports. Do I take the Monorail or the Keiku Airport Line from Haneda? Oh, it doesn't go to the Central Station? So now what? Etc.

Tokyo is so complicated! I remember just staring at charts and timetables and maps. It was extra complicated because some services took different routes at different times of the day. One of them enters the subway tunnel and continues along a subway route at certain times. It took a long time to figure it out.

 

[LNahid2000]

Well, my usual plan for figuring out transportation is to just directly use Google maps. They very much include UPX, almost to the exclusion of the TTC routes.
Sample map to the Fairmount Royal York:
https://goo.gl/maps/bErYi8TxWP92

Depends where downtown they're going, and also what terminal they come in at. From T3 to Bloor-Yonge, Google thinks the TTC is faster: https://goo.gl/maps/HeccrQi8T6J2.

Either way, I don't usually put all my faith in Google Maps because their schedules aren't always up to date, and they don't take cost into account (for Toronto at least).

 

[reaperexpress]

Perhaps this can be loosely tied in with Kinnear's comment, but for fun I painted the TTC's Flexity Outlook livery onto the UPX rolling stock. I already had the template made so it only took a few seconds.

I've made a few others with variations of red, white, or dark grey, and I think they all look pretty good. Dominant red seems to always look sharp. So if the Prov ever were to rebrand UPX, I don't think it'd be a hard decision for them to drop its current two-tone sludgy greens w/ orange stripe livery.

View attachment 68172

I love it! I too had been wondering about a red-based scheme for GO's local train services while still keeping the GO brand. With fare integration the operating agency would become less relevant. Similarly I'd have no issue with Metrolinx operating/contracting the Crosstown line, as long as it too has red-based scheme. It's sort of like how the red of London buses unifies the system despite the myriad of private operators. Meanwhile GO Transit's green livery would represent regional services.

A couple of thoughts: Would painting the rooftop units black instead of red reduce the visual mass, making the trains look more sleek? Similarly would it look better to slope the top white and red stripes down the front of the train, following the shape of those panels?

And do you also have one in the GO livery? I'd love to see that. In that case I wonder if it would be best with a black stripe along the windows rather than the ordinary white one, it might look strange to have those big square tinted windows in a white stripe.

 

[mdrejhon]

I like red schemes for public transit systems.

That said, can't help to wonder: I imagine that recoloring the green octagons to red octagons (elongated octagons of the bilevel coaches) would create a flood of "STOPtrain" puns, by complaining commuters, during GOtrain delays.

For those who wondered what a red-colored bilevel in the old livery style might have theoretically been:

(Modified version of image from Trainiax)

In all actuality, a different livery would be used, and perhaps mainly for new purchases (e.g. whatever EMUs or service run on the Bramalea/(Airport)-to-Stoufville Metrolinx route).

 

[vegeta_skyline]

I'm not often speechless...

https://nowtoronto.com/news/transportation/metrolinx-blames-you/

That reminds me of a certain meme... In Soviet Russia Government blames you!
Problem is we're not living in Soviet Russia.

 

[reaperexpress]

That reminds me of a certain meme... In Soviet Russia Government blames you!
Problem is we're not living in Soviet Russia.

In their defence, most of those comments are not blaming the public, but rather blaming the misleading and sensationalist media coverage of the UP fare system. It is therefore not surprising that the media's coverage of those comments redirects them toward the public to incite further anger.

That said, can't help to wonder: I imagine that recoloring the green octagons to red octagons (elongated octagons of the bilevel coaches) would create a flood of "STOPtrain" puns, by complaining commuters, during GOtrain delays

Oh man, puns galore.

In the Netherlands, local service actually was called "Stoptrein" until a couple years ago. The new name is "Sprinter", focusing on the short sprints between stations (up to 140 km/h), rather than the fact that the trains stop at every station, often as frequently as every couple kilometres in urban areas.

 

[allabootmatt]

Rode yesterday from YYZ. It was MUCH busier than the 4-5 other times I have used UPX. About half the seats full, I would say. Still a ways to go but for a Saturday in February, not bad.

All the terrible publicity of late has probably if nothing else raised awareness of the service!

 

[SFO-YYZ]

Just an FYI, rode UPX yesterday and they're handing out free ride vouchers that expire in 1 year. Nice way to immediately share the fare reduction with riders.

Similar experience. Paid the full $27.50 fare and got a free voucher valid for one year.

On Friday morning I missed my early morning VIARail train to Montreal from Union. Had to be in Montreal for a 1 pm meeting, and the earliest arrival time for the next train was 2:20 pm. Literally panicked until ... light bulb - I asked the nice lady at VIARail to refund my ticket, ran down the hall towards the UPX platform and jumped on the waiting train, then immediately booked a 9:30 am one way flight to Montreal from Pearson WHILE I was onboard UPX en-route to YYZ. I know I've praised UPX before in a previous post on its many amenities, but for the frequent traveler, it can literally be a life saver in terms of connectivity between Union and YYZ, two of Canada's main transport hubs.

 

[nrb]

I had a terrible experience riding the UPX on family day. Decided to get on at dundas west as I live near there and the doors to the station were locked at 6:30 am.

Only way we got into the station was one person got off the train and let us in. Two other groups that arrived after us couldn't get in either, we had to walk down 2 massive flights of stairs to let them in which brings me to the next issue...

The elevator was out of service. Not for a day, for 2 weeks. Station was totally inaccessable. Had to carry 40 pound suitcases up two large flights of stairs. No information on the website that the elevator was out of service.

After getting on the train we told the attendant the station doors were locked. He said there's nothing they can do about it because GO has the keys to the station and it's a holiday (what?).

Oh yeah, and foolishly we also took it on the return to our trip and there's no presto reader at the accessible entrance to dundas west. So my luggage went through the turnstile and I did not. Had to get the ttc attendant to let me into the station. The entire thing was a terrible experience, I will never take it again.

 

[SFO-YYZ]

Oh yeah, and foolishly we also took it on the return to our trip and there's no presto reader at the accessible entrance to dundas west. So my luggage went through the turnstile and I did not. Had to get the ttc attendant to let me into the station. The entire thing was a terrible experience, I will never take it again.

Isn't that a TTC deficiency being the last one to the Presto party, yet you are blaming it on UPX/Metrolinx?

But sure, to each his own I guess. I and many others will most likely be taking it again, again, and again, esp when commuters begin riding it at GO fares starting March 9.

 

[Palma]

Isn't that a TTC deficiency being the last one to the Presto party, yet you are blaming it on UPX/Metrolinx?

But sure, to each his own I guess. I and many others will most likely be taking it again, again, and again, esp when commuters begin riding it at GO fares starting March 9.

That elevator has been out of service from even before Family Day and thats totally unacceptable. And for the attendant to say "its a holiday" is insane. I would of later on reported it but again its Metrolinx so not much would be done. They would blame the public again. And the doors were locked? That is insane

 

[SFO-YYZ]

That elevator has been out of service from even before Family Day and thats totally unacceptable. And for the attendant to say "its a holiday" is insane. I would of later on reported it but again its Metrolinx so not much would be done. They would blame the public again. And the doors were locked? That is insane

I was specifically asking about what he wrote in the last paragraph:

Oh yeah, and foolishly we also took it on the return to our trip and there's no presto reader at the accessible entrance to dundas west. So my luggage went through the turnstile and I did not. Had to get the ttc attendant to let me into the station. The entire thing was a terrible experience, I will never take it again

I believe he was specifically the fact that there's no Presto reader at TTC Dundas West station's accessible entrance, which created a bad experience and therefore he would never take UPX again, even though that was specifically a TTC deficiency and really had nothing to do with the UPX service. Shouldn't it be equally "insane" that nearly 60% of TTC subway stations (40 out of 69) have no Presto readers as of today, the actual problem that the previous poster was referring to?

 

[salsa]

Metrolinx owes everyone an explanation as to why they cannot be honest about their work. Good grief.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news...ress-fares-by-more-than-half/article28944885/

 

[Woodbridge_Heights]

You think tourists visiting the city know that the city's transit system is called TTC and that they look for a route in from the airport to the city by typing in ttc.ca

I bet if they search online they use searches similar to this " ground transportation at toronto airport" "getting from toronto airport to city centre".

If they connect via the airport wifi there is an opportunity to push people to UPX via their splash page login.

 

[the lemur]

In the Netherlands, local service actually was called "Stoptrein" until a couple years ago. The new name is "Sprinter", focusing on the short sprints between stations (up to 140 km/h), rather than the fact that the trains stop at every station, often as frequently as every couple kilometres in urban areas.

Sprinter has been in use since 2003, not so much in terms of the service but in reference to the type of train, in use since 1974 and able to cover accelerate and decelerate faster between stations. This involved several different classes of equipment: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NS_SGMm. The term stoptrein is still used by service providers other than NS. Before Sprinter became the generic term for service to all or most stops, the distinction was between stoptrein and Intercity (between major cities) or sneltrein (fast train, few stops).