AndreaPalladio said:
Some people love hydrocarbon fumes and noise, apparently. Why they are here is a mystery, though.
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Damned if I know ... surely pushing all the airport traffic into taxis from downtown to the airpot is going to create noise and hydrocarbon fumes.

I have no idea how why people don't support the environment and protect the island airport!

And get off the noise issue; it's bullshit. The trains going past my house out of Union make far more noise - and they have horns.
 
nfitz said:
Damned if I know ... surely pushing all the airport traffic into taxis from downtown to the airpot is going to create noise and hydrocarbon fumes.
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Exactly. That's why we need to toll all the highways, close the island airport and put a nice electric train out to the airport. And introduce regulations that require zero emission vehicles.
 
AndreaPalladio said:
Exactly. That's why we need to toll all the highways, close the island airport and put a nice electric train out to the airport. And introduce regulations that require zero emission vehicles.
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Toll the highways sure - and electric trains, great. But given that there is no significant noise issues from the airport - and most of the general aviation traffic would still exist, but be flying from elsewhere (likely resulting in a lot of car travel to distant airports) ... I just don't get this one.

Oh well, the boat has long since sailed on the idea of closing the airport, probably best let sleeping dogs lie.
 
Tolling highways will not reduce traffic. The 407, already one of the most expensive toll roads in North America is generally jammed with cars every rush hour. In my own example as a small business, road tolls are a 100% deductable business expense (provided I'm using the car for work purposes), so every dollar I pay in tolls is subtracted from the amount I would have had to pay to the tax man anyway.

There is no such thing as a zero emission vehicle. If it's an electric car, then the emissions are generated at the coal plants Ontario will need to fire up in order to fuel all of the electric cars. Even horse and buggy have emissions.

If you want people out of their cars you need to follow the European or Japanese models, which is make public transit better. In Britain, income and other taxes are more or less similar to Canada, but their privatized city rail system is far superior to ours (even with recent mechanical problems, delays, strikes).
 
Not sure if anyone caught the spread in the National Post on the weekend but Porter will start flights to Newark in April.

I had a chance to see the new lounge/gates today and the expansion is massive. I wasn't able to take pictures but when everything is done on Monday I'll try to bring my camera in.
 
Porter Airlines opens expanded terminal at Toronto City Centre Airport

TORONTO, Jan. 28 /CNW/ - Porter Airlines operated the first flights today
from its newly completed terminal at Toronto City Centre Airport. The
five-month project tripled passenger lounge space and increased airport gate
capacity.
"Passenger response to Porter's unique service offering over our first 15
months of flying allowed us to move ahead confidently with the terminal
project and meet future demand," said Robert Deluce, president and CEO of
Porter Airlines. "By the end of 2008, we plan to have 10 aircraft in the fleet
and be serving as many as eight destinations, including New York, which will
be our first U.S. city launching in the spring."
Passenger areas in the terminal feature leather lounge seating, wireless
Internet access, beverages, snacks and computer work stations. These services
are provided on a complimentary basis to all travelers.
The terminal design was developed by Scott Associates Architects Inc. and
the general contractor was BECC Construction Group.

About Porter Airlines

Porter Airlines Inc. is a regional passenger carrier based at Toronto
City Centre Airport. The airline currently serves Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal,
Halifax and Mt. Tremblant. Porter plans to fly to at least 17 short-haul
Canadian and U.S. destinations.
 
The lounge looks really good. I saw it yesterday and it is massive. Now it really does look like an airport. New York should be starting first week of April as well.

I'll try and take some pictures tomorrow just in case some of you are interested.
 
Will there be US customs pre-clearance facilities and Canada customs facilities? It would be hard to imagine starting up a YTZ-EWR service without those facilities in place.

Without US customs pre-clearance, it will be very inconvenient to have to land at Newark (or any other US destination) as an 'international' flight and having to clear customs there.
 
Pre-clearance doesn't matter as much for Porter since the majority of its passengers will not connect in the US... instead they connect, if at all, at the island. The only benefit would found at times when US customs is less busy at Pearson and more busy at the US destination... otherwise it balances out. I have flown from London Ontario and arrived in Pittsburgh back when US Airways Express flew the route and at Pittsburgh US customs was less of a hassle than at Toronto... so in the case of Pittsburgh pre-clearance makes things less convenient. If Newark's customs is efficient then pre-clearance would offer no benefit. Pre-clearance was implemented at the request of US airlines so passengers could land in the US as domestic and make quick connections. It provides no benefit to the customer not connecting in the US if US customs is equally efficient in all locations. It will be required to have pre-clearance at the island if Porter wants to serve New York La Guardia though because US customs doesn't have a facility to handle customs at La Guardia.
 
There is a customs facility in the new addition. Based on what I have seen it looks like there isn't pre-clearance, but the way it is physically set up (as in, where walls and hallways are) it could maybe happen.
 
I used to fly into Newark from the Island Airport back in the 80's and they had Canada Customs there then. If memory serves I'd clear US Customs in Newark, and Canada Customs coming home at the Island Airport
 
EnviroTO said:
Pre-clearance doesn't matter as much for Porter since the majority of its passengers will not connect in the US... instead they connect, if at all, at the island. The only benefit would found at times when US customs is less busy at Pearson and more busy at the US destination... otherwise it balances out. I have flown from London Ontario and arrived in Pittsburgh back when US Airways Express flew the route and at Pittsburgh US customs was less of a hassle than at Toronto... so in the case of Pittsburgh pre-clearance makes things less convenient. If Newark's customs is efficient then pre-clearance would offer no benefit. Pre-clearance was implemented at the request of US airlines so passengers could land in the US as domestic and make quick connections. It provides no benefit to the customer not connecting in the US if US customs is equally efficient in all locations. It will be required to have pre-clearance at the island if Porter wants to serve New York La Guardia though because US customs doesn't have a facility to handle customs at La Guardia.
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Good point. And, yep, out of the 3 major NYC airports, LGA is definitely not an option with the planned set up.
 
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