ksun
Senior Member
Amazing how people will frame their analysis to suit their bias.
First there would never be an express bus taking you to Pearson for $8, sorry not going to happen. Pacific Western ran a bus as mentioned and the cost was up in the $25 range. Furthermore said service would not stop at your front door, more likely would be a pick up at either union station or the bus terminal at Bay and Dundas, therefore there would still be a 15 +/- minute walk or a $3 subway ride to the pick up point of this hypothetical service. Now add that to the travel time in the bus to the airport (likely 35+ minutes). Tell me again how this scenario saves you time/money?
Second I find it hard to believe the majority of downtown residents don't own a metropass, even presto is starting to gain traction.
Third 75 minutes (from you subsequent post) vs 25 minutes + time to get to UPX station. That's a 50 minute spread!!! So it might take a bit of travel to get to Union, however I would imagine that if you can get to Union in 30 minutes or less would find UPX convinient.
I don't have a bias against UPX. Actually I am glad we have it because it provides an option, although a somewhat expensive one. I will still take it when it is needed (for example , back from a vacation when I don't really feel like taking the TTC).
To Q1, I didn't mean to save time. I only said the saved time from UPx isn't always worth it. If there is bus service, it might take the same time as TTC and doesn't save a minute, but I will take it to avoid the connections associated with TTC, and the premium is $5 instead of $16, which I can accept. I didn't know there was $25 airport bus before. That's pretty insane to me, considering Uber costs like $30. No wonder it doesn't operate any more.
Q2: most of my friends don't own one. We walk all the time. Some are members of the bikeshare program which is convenient (I will join next year). I hardly get out of downtown, so a metropass is a waste of money. I probably take the TTC for 4 times a month. Actually not having to take the TTC is precisely the reason we live downtown. We are not only car free, but also largely transit free.
Q3: UPx takes 15 minutes walk to Union, plus 7-8 minutes wait on average (I happen to have waited for 12 minutes that day), plus 25 minutes ride, plus another a few minutes walk to gate. It is close to an hour already, plus the need to lug to Union. The entire TTC trip to Pearson (from Queen) is usually 60-70 minutes. UPX still saves 10-15 minutes in total, but I am not sure 10-15 minutes is that crucial - considering one is very likely to wait for an hour at the gate before taking off anyway.
I don't have an agenda against UPx. I think it is great that we have this option for those who like it. Just trying to point out the fact that for even downtown dwellers, it doesn't save as much time as many think. The closer you live near Bloor, the less time you save. The advantage is more about the comfort and absence of TTC related hassles. If I still lived at Yonge/Bloor like I used to, I wouldn't consider it since it will make zero sense to me.