Toronto's downtown-to-airport UP Express is costlier than residents bargained for

Toronto is finally building a direct transit line from its downtown core to Pearson Airport, and it only took hosting the Pan Am Games to get it done. It will cost you only about half the price of a taxi cab to get on it.

The Province of Ontario and its transit agency, Metrolinx, announced today the final details of the Union Pearson Express, including the price of a one-way trip on the rail line: $27.50.

The line is expected to open in the spring of 2015, shortly before the Toronto area plays host to the Pan-American Games, and the estimated 250,000 visitors that come with it.

And with that great responsibility comes great power. Toronto has, for too long, been without a direct transit line to its main international airport.

As Metrolinx CEO Bruce McCuaig told the Globe and Mail, major commercial centres need a direct link to their airports.

"When you look at other world financial centres, having a direct link [from] the airport to the downtown is a pretty basic building block,” McCuaig said.

“This is going to be contributing to positioning Toronto … in terms of the world marketplace.”

But is this the direct link Torontonians have been waiting for? Some are already panning the high cost of the line. NDP MP Andrew Cash called the express line elitist.

"The UP Express received millions in fed & prov funds but will only serve the wealthy at $27.50/trip?" he wrote on Twitter.

City councillor Josh Matlow shared similar sentiment. “Torontonians waited decades for rapid transit to Pearson. We know now, despite UP Express being built with our money, it wasn’t built for us,” he wrote.

They may have a point. Compare the cost of a one-way trip on the UP Express, as it is being called, with prices of other transit opportunities from Union Station to the airport:

• TTC (which includes at two subway lines and one express bus): $3

• Pre-booked Aeroport Taxi and Limousine Service: $48

• Beck Taxi flat rate from Union to Pearson: $55

So, sure, the Union Pearson Express is less expensive than a cab, unless you are travelling with somebody. For a group of two or three is makes as much fiscal sense to hop into a taxi and head straight to your destination.

There are lower rates available, the province was quick to point out. Students and seniors have reduced rates, and there are special fares for airport employees. And those who use a Presto card – the multi-system transit pass being hawked in Ontario – will be charged a low rate of $19.

Perhaps that is their way of pushing the popularity of the Presto system in Toronto, or perhaps it is simply a way of installing higher UP Express prices for visitors to the city. How many Pan Am Games tourists are likely to bother signing up for Presto, after all?

The real issue isn’t what the UP Express cost is compared to taxi alternatives, but how it stacks up to other airport transit lines in other major cities.

Vancouver, for example, charges $5 for a trip to Vancouver International Airport and is integrated into the rest of the city’s transit system.

JFK Airport in New York is accessible via the standard subway system, with an additional $5 charge for access to the train line.

Chicago travellers can reach O’Hare similarly, with the purchase of a subway ticket plus $5 charge when travelling from the airport.

Transit riders can take the Piccadilly subway line to London’s Heathrow Airport, with the cost estimated at £5.70.

So why the higher price in Toronto? For one, the UP Express line is not part of the Toronto Transit Commission and not connected to the subway line – though it does make stops at two subway stations between the airport and downtown.

That’s the second part. With only two stops between the two end points, the UP Express highlights speed. The province says a trip will take just 25 minutes, and trains will depart every 15 minutes. If all things run according to plan, riders are at most 40 minutes away from their destination.

A standard trip on public transit will take longer – estimated at just over an hour. And while most cab rides take less time, there’s no guarantee. Especially during rush hour.

"We are confident travellers will choose our service because it is faster, cheaper, and more reliable than other direct airport to downtown modes of transportation," McCuaig said at the Wednesday announcement.

Added Premier Kathleen Wynne: “Creating that seamless connection between two major transportation hubs will make a big difference in people’s lives.”

It may be a good thing the UP Express is set to coincide with the invasion of hundreds of thousands of visitors. Because it may seem easier, for those whose destination is deep in the city’s core. But when everything is factored in, is it any more cost effective than the inexpensive-but-disjointed TTC journey or the quicker cab alternative?

The riders will ultimately decide. And there will be plenty of those during the Pan Am Games.