City
Sunday Supplement: Finding a way to the airport, when the Gardiner was new, and an Ikea monkey primer
Getting the heck out of Canada has always been a challenge for travelers without a car in Toronto. A trip to the airport for most involves a costly taxi ride or a back-breaking ride on the TTC with a freezing cold interchange at Kipling. Hardly glamourous. Now that that the Union-Pearson rail link is under construction those days are over, right? Maybe not. Fares could be as high as $30 each way. I take a look at how that stacks up against the alternatives below.
There's also a trip down memory lane to when the Gardiner was new and a closer look at rhesus macaques, the little monkeys that are banned in Toronto but have been known to turn up at flat-pack furniture stores.
TICKET TO ANYWHERE
The price of a ride on Metrolinx's under-construction Union-Pearson rail link could be as high as $30, according to a report from Ontario's auditor general released earlier this week. The steep fare, added together for a family, is more expensive than a ride in a limo and just about any other form of transport to the airport. Single fares, however, might be competitive. Here's a comparison:
Walk (anywhere): Free
TTC fare (anywhere): $3
Union-Pearson Express: $30
Taxi (Union Station): $45-$65 (approx.)
Limo (Union Station): $58 (approx.)
The question is, does Metrolinx need to run the line at a profit? Sure, money and all that, but it seems like there's a greater need to have one - just one - direct public transit link between downtown and the airport. The idea of tolling the Gardiner could subsidize Union-Pearson Express fares and pay for subway expansion. Is this something the city should look into with Metrolinx?
GARDINER DAY ONE
Toronto Star Thursday Aug 8 1958
In case you hadn't noticed, we're more than a little prone to nostalgia around here and, even if the Gardiner is a giant deathtrap, it's a big part of our history. Here's a page from the Aug. 7 1958 Toronto Star celebrating the opening of the first section of the elevated highway.
The first four kilometres, with a strict 80 km/h speed limit, cost $13,000,000 to build between the QEW and the Humber River. Originally called the Lakeshore Expressway, the roadway was renamed for Frederick G. Gardiner, the chair of Metro Toronto, shortly before its completion.
Sam Cass, a Metro Toronto engineer, said the road would provide "smooth sailing" for its new auto users.
MONKEY BUSINESS
You'd have to have been under a rock last week not to have taken some delight in Darwin the Monkey, the escaped rhesus macaque that sent the media bananas and kept us all entertained while Rob Ford was taking a break.
Although we learned plenty about Darwin and his owners, we didn't find out much about the animal behind the shearling jacket. Here are some facts about rhesus macaques.
Life span: 25 years
Regions: China, India, Bhutan, Laos, Burma, Nepal, Bangladesh, Thailand, Vietnam, Pakistan, Afghanistan
Height: 531.8 mm (adult)
Weight: 7.7 kg (adult)
Rhesus macaques live in a broad range of climates from tropical to semi-desert and tend to gather in areas close to humans. The monkeys eat an omnivore diet, favoring plants and small insects, but are also capable of digesting food found recovered from humans like bread, ice cream, and fried food.
The animals' similarity to humans also makes them prime targets for medical research. The development of HIV/AIDS medicines and rabies, smallpox, and polio vaccines were developed using macaque blood. The monkey's natural predators include large birds, dogs, weasels, leopards, tigers, sharks, crocodiles, and snakes.
WHAT WE LEARNED THIS WEEK
- Toronto made the first shot of the new Pacific Rim trailer
- It's possible a heavy truck could "punch through" the Gardiner [Global]
- The city isn't interested in finding out what happened to missing Gardiner cash
Chris Bateman is a staff writer at blogTO. Follow him on Twitter at @chrisbateman.
Photo: "HtO Park - 1" by Subjective Art, "Toronto Pearson International Airport - Terminal 1 - Pier F - Hammerhead" by Tom Podolec, Wikimedia Commons,
Discussion
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When I used to live near my parents in the west end of Scarborough, I would take a GO Bus from Pearson to York Mills, it would stop at Yorkdale, then at YM my parents would pick me up.
Now that I llve in the east end of Scarborough, I can take the 95 York Mills, or for $4.50, I can take a bus from York Mills GO to Scarborough Centre, I then cross to the TTC side and take the 38 Highland Creek. :-)
Sure, this new railway from Union to Pearson is great, but people from the West and East ends still have to commute to the core and head North.
We need subways. The population of Toronto and the GTA isn't going to get smaller anytime soon. We need subways EVERYWHERE.
All major east-west and north-south streets should have subways, including extra car lenghts. If the idea catches on, eliminate the buses on the major routes and have them cover areas currently neglected by civic leaders.
When they were in the mist of rebuilding Pearson airport, there was heavy talk of getting the subway to serve all the terminals. They would have been intergrated within the buildings. But nooo, mayor Miller didn't want that. His communist vision was for everyone cycle everywhere. What an effen dork he was.
Nearby cities such as Mississauga, Brampton, Richmond Hill, Vaughan and Markham should all be sharing a subway line - like right now!
These key cities should consider forming a new province. Money spent here would stay here. Keep the current taxes the same and there would enough money to have subways everywhere. The 'province' would have less people on staff as current adminstrative duties would be handled through each city under close scrutiny of taxpayers. It can be done.
The only objections would be from Queen's Park people having to move to a different part of the province. They are the thorn that currently stiffles our economy, our objectives and our future.
Pass it on!
The thing is, they would still have plenty of business because people living at the 401 for example aren't likely going to take a subway all the way down to union to go to the airport.
I think there should have been additional stops along the route. At this high price, no one will be using the link to commute to work. It should have been the equivalent price of a GO Train going that same distance.... with a premium if you are leaving from the actual airport vs another stop on the line.
At this point though taking a $3 subway ride to Kipling and then a $27 taxi (an estimate) would be the smart way to get to the airport for a single rider.
It would be great to see how you determined 30 dollars. It literally seems like BS that this number is thrown out there
I don't think Metrolinx has ever said the fare would be $30.
The best thing would have been to have more stops along the way, with two types of service; express and local. Charge top price for express and significantly less for local.
Also add in ways to receive a discount on your fare (such as booking early, lower prices for return fares, and perhaps a family fare) and people would be less annoyed at the high ticket price. Lots of people will pay premium price for premium service. The problem arises when there is only the premium option.
sadly, with only 3 stops on the route and (i assume) only one type of service, the city and the province has once again fucked things up when it comes to transit.
As well, personally (and to be brutally frank), the subway is an outdated mode of transit to begin with, sucking life from the city streets whenever a subway line is built, and just reinforcing cars. Street rail (streetcars and LRT's) are a hell of a lot better, and bring life to a city a hell of a lot more than a subway line does. Also, the LRT lines of Transit City would have served suburbanized Toronto quite well, and would have also gone to the airport, like in other cities that have LRT lines.
Let's just face it; with the exception of the line to Vaughn (and also to York University) as well as the DRL, subways are exorbitantly expensive and outdated, and we really don't need them anymore.