On Mar 16, 6:27 pm, (Mark Brader) wrote:
N. Dale writes:
Subject: Pearson Airport-Downtown Options?

I'm travelling to Toronto next week. Other than taxi are there any
good and fast options - I'm not trying to do this real cheap as my
client is paying ...

The four available choices are regular public transit (TTC), Airport
Express bus, taxi, and airport limo. ("Limo" here meaning basically
a first-class type taxi service, for airport travelers only. For
trips in the direction to the airport, you phone for one.)

Based on one-way, single-trip fares and assuming that "downtown" means
somewhere south of Bloor and between Bathurst and the Don Valley, the
current fares are $2.75 by TTC, $15.25 by Airport Express, $46 plus
tip by taxi, $50 plus tip by limo. (For taxis the mandatory flat fare
applies only in the direction from airport to city.)

Taxi, limo, or Airport Express all use the same expressways and will
be subject to the same traffic delays. (The Airport Express operates
every 20 minutes at busy times, and serves a series of specific points
downtown, which can take it some time to get between.) So if cost is
not an issue and you're going to take one of those options, you might
as well use a limo.

The TTC option means taking the subway from downtown to Kipling station
in the west end. Depending on where downtown you are starting from,
this might involve taking two subway trains (changing at St. George
station or at Bloor and Yonge). At Kipling station you go upstairs and
change to an almost-express bus (route 192, "Airport Rocket") which
takes Dundas Street to highway 427 and then proceeds to the airport by
the same route as the services from downtown.

The trip time by TTC will certainly be slower than the other options
are when traffic downtown is moving well, but it's more reliable, as
the subways bypass the street congestion. On the other hand, it will
be crowded at rush hour -- you might be standing -- and the 192 bus has
no luggage compartment. At busy times, subway trains operate every 2-3
minutes and the 192 is every 10 minutes or better.

If your "downtown" location is near Bloor Street, the TTC option looks
better since you when need only one subway train plus the 192 bus, and
a taxi will take longer to reach an expressway than from a point further
south.
--
Mark Brader, Toronto | "If you want a 20th century solution, the
| obvious answer is helicopters!" -- Bob Scheurle

My text in this article is in the public domain.

That is very helpful, Mark. It opens to me another possibility for
eluding snagged downtown traffic when I'm leaving - taking the TTC to
Kipling and then hailing a taxi if the 192 is not at hand.