This $20 to $30 price is insane.
Agree. First let's not compare Toronto to London as if it makes any sense. London is an alpha elite city, people expect it to be super expensive. Toronto is not. Comparison ends here.
It is funny that whenever we talk about our outrageous price, we start to compared with London and New York to rationalize it; when we talk about coverage/services, suddenly we don't mention that these cities have 20 subway lines and instead focus on their being much bigger.
$20-30 is probably what we will need to pay. We are in overpriced not nothing Toronto after all. morever, I predict
chances are that this project will become a complete failure. Think about it, very few people in Toronto/GTA will have the incentive to pay that much money to take this train. It simply makes little sense.
Ask yourself, if you live in North York, will you come down all the way to Union with all your luggage, possibly after a bus+ subway ride to pay $20-30 to go to Pearson? Etobicoke? Scarborough? Be realistic, those folks are likely to have cars. Anywhere near the Bloor-Danforth line? Why not pay $2.65 by taking the subway plus a 20 minute express bus?
The only people who find it useful will be folks who actually live downtown, near Union station, and those who are close to the Yonge/University line south of Eglinton.
Should I mention again that anyone who travels in groups (2+) will never take this expensive train? A $55 cab makes a lot of sense and saves so much trouble.
I am under 15 minutes walking distance away from Union, and if this thing charges me anything more than $20, I will not take it. In the Easter Weekend, I went to Pearson to fly somewhere, and found a ride there for $30. Picked up at my door. Think about it. If this train charges close to $30, this whole thing will fail undoubtedly.