Sean Marshall

The upshot of the new, lower UP Express fares

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Sean Marshall

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Earlier this month, I commented on the poor ridership numbers of UP Express, Metrolinx’s airport rail link between Toronto’s Pearson International Airport and Union Station. I suggested that despite the embarrassing ridership figures, UP Express (UPX) was no white elephant. I argued that instead, the rail service could be a useful transit link for residents of North Etobicoke, Weston, Mount Dennis, and West Toronto.

Later today, Metrolinx’s Board of Directors is expected to approve a major fare reduction for UPX slashing fares by over 50 percent. The Globe and Mail broke the story yesterday; today the Toronto Star has more details.

The one-way cash fare between Union Station and Pearson Airport will drop from $27.50 to $12.00; the fare charged to Presto cards will drop from $19.00 to $9.00. Fares between Union Station, Bloor and Weston will drop to the equivalent GO fares. (The 2016 GO Transit fare from Bloor to Union Station is $5.30, or $4.71 with Presto; from Weston, it is $5.65, or $5.02 with Presto).

The UPX fare between Union Station and Pearson will still be priced at a premium compared to the equivalent GO Transit fare — the cash fare from Union to Malton Station is $7.70, or $6.84 with a Presto card.

Interestingly, before UPX was launched, Metrolinx conducted studies on potential ridership and fares. One study, by Steer Davies Gleave, that some UPX trains might even at capacity by August. You can read Metrolinx’s market research and ridership studies (with some details redacted) here. Obviously, there weren’t enough well-heeled business travellers willing to ride UPX for $27 each, or even enough local residents willing to pay $19 with their Presto card.

This change in pricing makes UPX much more attractive for commuters in the Junction/Junction Triangle neighbourhood, as well as those living in Weston. The lower fares should help increase ridership between Pearson Airport and Union Station as well. It’s a good start, but it isn’t enough.

Last year, I commented on GO Transit’s “fare by distance” structure, which charges disproportionately high fares for short distances, and very inexpensive fares for long commutes.  While GO offers co-fares to suburban transit agencies, it offers no such fare integration with the TTC. GO Transit offers free parking at suburban rail stations, burying the cost of building and maintaining its parking lots into the fares of every passenger, whether they need parking or not.

The charts below show the single ride and Presto fares, per distance travelled in 2016, with the new UPX fares. Per distance travelled, a GO Transit fare to Union Station to Exhibition, Bloor, and Danforth is more expensive than going from Toronto to Pearson Airport via UP Express.
2016CashFares 2016PrestoFares

Metrolinx is in the midst of developing a new fare integration strategy, so hopefully these concerns will be addressed. Once the TTC completely rolls out Presto at all subway stations and on all buses, it will be technically simple to adopt a GO-TTC co-fare, and UPX should be part of this as well. There are tens of thousands of jobs at the airport and in the surrounding offices and industrial parks. With proper fare integration with TTC, Miway and Brampton Transit (all of which serve Terminal 1), UPX could become much more useful to many more commuters.

Lowering UP Express fares is a good start, a welcome acknowledgement that the rosy forecasts of business travellers crowding the airport trains were never reached. But lowering fares isn’t enough: with proper fare integration, UP Express can offer far more utility than simply being an airport rail link.

Comments

4 responses to “The upshot of the new, lower UP Express fares”

  1. stephen saines Avatar
    stephen saines

    I’ve just had a discussion with one of the Toronto newspaper writers, and unfortunately, he feels I’m demeaning his “character” but making a very crucial point clear. It’s befuddling a number of persons I’ve spoken to, and I think a lot of the basis of it is purposeful hyping on Metrolinx’ part.

    Here’s the phrase the author and others have stated in the press:
    (matching fares for the similar but less frequent, limited service GO trains). First, we have a disagreement on the full meaning of “fare”, albeit that is understandable, I note from many posts here that it is being equated to “cost of fare”. There’s a difference, and perhaps that term if better defined by “tariffs”, the legal definition of carriage.

    Here’s how Metrolinx themselves state it, with a *crucial* modifier:
    [“with prices that match GO fares”]

    Click to access Union_Pearson_Express_Fare_Fact_Sheet_EN.pdf

    “Prices!” The fares *do not match* as the GO fare entitles you to continue further on an incremental basis. The UP fare does no such thing.

    So if you wish to travel from Weston to Union to transfer on a GO train to a further destination, you get *absolutely no credit* for the price you paid for that fare.

    The ambiguity is rampant in the press, through no fault of the authors in many cases, albeit they have missed the sneaky proviso that Metrolinx slipped in.

    Until Metrolinx matches the “FARE” of what GO offers (and someone on an overcrowded GO train coming from points north of Weston can get off at Weston and transfer to the UPX to disembark at say, Bloor) then to imply that the “fare is matched” is disingenuous.

    The price of the fare to travel the distance is matched, but not the fare itself, the terms of GO fares being quite complex and detailed, almost all to the favour of the traveller.

    Reply
    1. Sean Marshall Avatar
      Sean Marshall

      That’s a fair point that’s being lost in the discussion. Bloor Station, for example, is in the same “02” fare zone as Union Station. Yet it would still cost the entire $5.30 GO base fare to ride UPX one stop even if you were connecting from the Lakeshore Line, instead of $0.00 as it would if it were a GO train.

      This one reason why I’m not entirely satisfied with the reduced UP Express fares and why I argue for more – proper UP Express fare integration with not only the TTC, but with GO, MiWay, and Brampton Transit.

      Reply
  2. Simon D Avatar
    Simon D

    Delighted to be paying less on the UP, but there is another issue here – to remain as a viable option for travelling to the airport to catch a flight, it must have close to 100% reliability, otherwise passengers will refuse to accept a small but real risk of missing their $2000 flight for the sake of $40 extra on a taxi. Thus if the fare drops so substantially that the train is packed full of commuters at Union, business passengers for YYZ won’t use it and it will become the Mount Dennis/Weston Metro. Have Metrolinx considered this scenario?

    Reply
  3. stephen saines Avatar
    stephen saines

    Just revisiting this post by virtue of a Google hit searching for “Mt Dennis UPX station”.

    I wrote prior:
    [“Prices!” The fares *do not match* as the GO fare entitles you to continue further on an incremental basis. The UP fare does no such thing.]

    Shortly after that posting, Metrolinx in fact did make it so that *in all respects* save for conditions of carriage (bikes and dogs) one can ride by their GO fare between Weston/Bloor/Union. I now use it often to connect to the Lakeshore line when headed out of town for long-distance cycling jaunts.

    Beware though, some of the drivers are not up on the latest changes, had a loud argument with one last week, his claiming “bikes are not allowed at any time on the UPX trains”. He not only flummoxed the on-board service attendant, he made a scene in front of otherwise happy passengers. The train was barely a quarter full, and outside of rush-hour. I kept challenging him to “call your dispatch to get the rules read to you”. He purposely came out his cab to confront me. His answer was (in front of many shocked customers) “I don’t need someone telling me the rules, I say what they are”.

    I refused to get off, he went back in his cabin. lol…in the event, I just made my connection to the Lakeshore East train to Oshawa, which later ended up being a half hour late due to a “hotbox” on the train preceding it at Scarborough station. Fortunately, the bus to Peterborough was held, and the bus driver made up a bit of time on an excellent ride to destination.

    Reply

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