ssiguy2 said:
As a Vancouverite I can attest that the Olympics are an obscene waster of money and even more so the summer games.

The reality is that the tickets are always so expensive that only the chosen few can really take advantage of the sport. The city turns into an armed camp and those so called long term benefits never materialize. Despite Campbell's claims of all the tourists who will flock to the city after wards, tourism is down from before the games and convention bookings in Vancouver are now down to 1999 levels. It left the city with a huge debt and a few big skating rinks and that's about it. Of course the poor were kicked out of their accommodation thru "renovictions" and their rents went thru the roof.

The Olympics are a huge money maker for real estate developers which is why they always push the games........the taxpayers pay for the upgrades to infrastructure and the real estate companies buy all the land around them, built houses, and then sell them at ridiculous prices. This is why politicians love them, the developers who benefit from the games make sure that that the politicians who pushed them are well compensated.
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The winter Olympic Games can't be compared to the summer Olympics. It is a completely different level of scale and world attention. Maybe because we are in Canada so winter Olympics matter more. The fact is most people in the world don't watch or care about the Winter games. The Vancouver games were the first I paid any attention too as before that I was not in Canada. Even the Pam Am games is a lot larger than the winter Olympics.

And without conducting a full cost-benefit study, and only 2.5 years after the games, you can't simply conclude it is an obscene waste of money. There are successful examples - the 2000 Games greatly promoted Sydney's worldwide recognition. Right now, I think it is a perfect timing for Toronto to have one. Too bad we can't have the 2020 one. 2028 just sounds so distant.
 
Metrolinx officials agree to discuss UP Express fares with airport workers

Read More: http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/201...ss_up_express_fares_with_airport_workers.html


Senior Metrolinx staff or board members will meet with angry airport workers, who weren’t permitted to speak Friday about their concerns over the still-unannounced price of the new train between Union Station and Pearson.

The workers say that the anticipated price will be unaffordable to most of the 40,000 people who work at Pearson. Metrolinx chair Rob Prichard recognized the workers who showed up at the public portion of Friday’s board meeting. But he said the issue of fares wouldn’t be discussed. Unlike city committee meetings, Metrolinx doesn’t include deputations from the public at its quarterly board gatherings. The angry workers said they would, therefore, invite Prichard to come to the airport to talk to them.

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UPE Fares: Incentives for YYZ workers are needed...

M II A II R II K said:
Metrolinx officials agree to discuss UP Express fares with airport workers

Read More: http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/201...ss_up_express_fares_with_airport_workers.html


Senior Metrolinx staff or board members will meet with angry airport workers, who weren’t permitted to speak Friday about their concerns over the still-unannounced price of the new train between Union Station and Pearson.

The workers say that the anticipated price will be unaffordable to most of the 40,000 people who work at Pearson. Metrolinx chair Rob Prichard recognized the workers who showed up at the public portion of Friday’s board meeting. But he said the issue of fares wouldn’t be discussed. Unlike city committee meetings, Metrolinx doesn’t include deputations from the public at its quarterly board gatherings. The angry workers said they would, therefore, invite Prichard to come to the airport to talk to them.

.....
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MARK and Everyone:

This is a good move to discuss UPE fares with Metrolink and GO Transit because to ignore YYZ workers to go after a limited market
would have been a problem...These incentives should include reasonable commutation fares from not only Downtown Toronto and
should include all areas directly served by GO Transit Rail...A start would be to honor monthly GO passes on the UPE depending on
cost - there should be a extra monthly charge to use UPE but it should not be high enough to discourage ridership...

I would much rather see the UPE well used by YYZ workers then see low ridership due to high fares and the limited market...

LI MIKE
 
There seems to be this big assumption of big fares and empty trains. What if the opposite is true? Can we all agree at that point we will need to jack up fares for commuters and these same workers who may have enjoyed the most luxurious commute in the city for a time?
 
M II A II R II K said:
The workers say that the anticipated price will be unaffordable to most of the 40,000 people who work at Pearson.
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So a train designed to carry people catching flights with luggage that can handle only 1440 people going to the airport during a two hour morning rush is somehow expected to accommodate a meaningful portion of the 40000 people who work at Pearson? Let me do the math on that. Oh, I see the issue... This is an airport express train and not a commuter service. Petitioning for low prices on this is like petitioning VIA rail for cheaper Oakville to Toronto fares.
 
Perhaps a commuter service can be run on the same tracks with more stops that runs every 15 minutes in between the 15 minutes that this UPX runs.
 
EnviroTO said:
So a train designed to carry people catching flights with luggage that can handle only 1440 people going to the airport during a two hour morning rush is somehow expected to accommodate a meaningful portion of the 40000 people who work at Pearson?
Click to expand...
40,000 people work at Pearson, but they don't all work there at the same time. Pearson runs strong for 20 hours a day, and these people all have days off, spread through the week.

The magic here, is that Pearson employee traffic is going to be highest at exactly the times when passenger traffic is lowest! Pearson employees need to get to the airport before the rush of passengers arrive. Employees only leave after the rush. Shift changes happen in the low periods of the day. By its very nature, employee ridership will help fill in the non-peak hours of operation on the UPX, assuming that it's not a usurious expense.
 
M II A II R II K said:
Metrolinx officials agree to discuss UP Express fares with airport workers

Read More: http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/201...ss_up_express_fares_with_airport_workers.html
.....
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There was an interesting paragraph toward the end of the article:

“For the UP Express we have stations at Weston and at Bloor. We’re protecting for a station at Mount Dennis to connect up with the Eglinton Crosstown and we’re protecting for a station at Woodbine as well,” he said.
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Markster said:
40,000 people work at Pearson, but they don't all work there at the same time. Pearson runs strong for 20 hours a day, and these people all have days off, spread through the week.

The magic here, is that Pearson employee traffic is going to be highest at exactly the times when passenger traffic is lowest! Pearson employees need to get to the airport before the rush of passengers arrive. Employees only leave after the rush. Shift changes happen in the low periods of the day. By its very nature, employee ridership will help fill in the non-peak hours of operation on the UPX, assuming that it's not a usurious expense.
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There is no reason UPX couldn't have a monthly pass price in the $200/month range (standard GO pricing) and still have a single-trip fare that is $28 (round trip under $50).

Lots of airport related items have a a very high single use cost and a multiple price that is much closer to normal.


I assume the bulk of UPX seats will be sold to the airlines for their staff to use during a lay-over somewhere around the $12/trip range. They tend to use the Harbour Castle and other hotels on the fringe of downtown, so it suits them well enough.
 
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EnviroTO said:
So a train designed to carry people catching flights with luggage that can handle only 1440 people going to the airport during a two hour morning rush is somehow expected to accommodate a meaningful portion of the 40000 people who work at Pearson? Let me do the math on that. Oh, I see the issue... This is an airport express train and not a commuter service. Petitioning for low prices on this is like petitioning VIA rail for cheaper Oakville to Toronto fares.
Click to expand...

Markster said:
40,000 people work at Pearson, but they don't all work there at the same time. Pearson runs strong for 20 hours a day, and these people all have days off, spread through the week.

The magic here, is that Pearson employee traffic is going to be highest at exactly the times when passenger traffic is lowest! Pearson employees need to get to the airport before the rush of passengers arrive. Employees only leave after the rush. Shift changes happen in the low periods of the day. By its very nature, employee ridership will help fill in the non-peak hours of operation on the UPX, assuming that it's not a usurious expense.
Click to expand...

I read a newspaper report recently that indicated 75% of those 40,000 workers live in Peel Region....so we really are talking about the other 10,000.....those that work at the airport and choose to live somewhere else.......how many of those live in Toronto? How many live within a convenient access to the UPe.

I can't help but think this is a bit of a tempest in a teapot created by activist media reports and fueled by a small but vocal group of within the airport workers.
 
TOareaFan said:
I read a newspaper report recently that indicated 75% of those 40,000 workers live in Peel Region....so we really are talking about the other 10,000.....those that work at the airport and choose to live somewhere else.......how many of those live in Toronto? How many live within a convenient access to the UPe.
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I thought there as a significant number who lived in the Rexdale area. Even if it were free, the UPX wouldn't be much use to them. And those in southern Etobicoke would probably find the existing TTC Airport Rocket more convenient.

I expect in reality, the number of airport workers who'd actually take advantage of a cheap UPX, aren't enough to overwhelm the service. And given the near 24/7 working environment, I'd think those trying to use it to commute downtown everyday would be more significant, if cheap commuting fares were available.
 
I grew up in the Markland Wood area south of the airport. There were quite a number of Moms and Dads in the neighborhood who worked at the airport, noticeably so in fact. While I do not dispute that airport employees live all across the GTA, there will be a large percentage who live nearby and for whom the UPX will be useless.

42
 
rbt said:
There is no reason UPX couldn't have a monthly pass price in the $200/month range (standard GO pricing) and still have a single-trip fare that is $28 (round trip under $50).

Lots of airport related items have a a very high single use cost and a multiple price that is much closer to normal.


I assume the bulk of UPX seats will be sold to the airlines for their staff to use during a lay-over somewhere around the $12/trip range. They tend to use the Harbour Castle and other hotels on the fringe of downtown, so it suits them well enough.
Click to expand...

That's a very good point. Monthly passes can be sold at a significant 'discount' compared to regular fares, because how many flyers are actually going to be using this thing more than a couple round trips a month (and that's if they're pretty frequent business flyers)? The only people who will be using this line on a regular basis would be the people who work at the airport, or people who work for the airlines. Most of these people would be taking the UPX outside of the "peak" times for travel on it, so it's unlikely that they would be boarding onto a packed train and taking a seat away from a 'full fare' customer.
 
Maybe UPX could issue "standby" passes. If no "business class" or "first-class" passenger fill up the UPX train, they can get on. At a reduced rate, of course. Wonder if those "last minute" organizations will get a hand into it for a "complete" vacation package.
 
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