Doug Ford doesn't even know that UP Express (UPX) exists! In his press conference he mentioned that Billy Bishop would be easier to reach than 'driving up to Pearson'. It's another real estate & rich friends deal...
This is a great example of the kind of thinking that has brought Canada to its current situation of abysmal growth, low productivity, and quickly approaching fiscal collapse.
The reason they want to expand Billy Bishop is because the demand exists (it also has to be regardless of jets due tobTransport Canada regs). If people wanted to spend an extra 30 to 45 minutes getting a train on a short haul flight, they would be doing that already. The heavily subsidized UP Express is seldom used by passengers and mostly serves as a commuter link and a way for airport employees to get to work - recall that it has never met its ridership goals and had to cut its fares by two thirds (it's also not an "express" anymore). It's faster to take transit to Billy Bishop from virtually anywhere in Toronto. Additionally, Toronto has been planning a third airport in the GTA for quite some time because Pearson is at its limit. Alto doesn't solve that.
Alto will likely never be built, as the cost will certainly surpass $200B for the entire route based on California's HSR, not the lowball $90B quoted, and there is no business case for it. If the tickets for Alto aren't heavily subsidized, they will certainly be multiples of the cost of an airline ticket. In the event sanity does not prevail and Alto to Toronto is built and subsidized to the tune of 90%+ (meaning taxpayers across Canada would be funding your trip - it will make Canada Post subsidies look like pocket change), it will never go to Pearson, nor will it be going to Ottawa International or Trudeau - the rights of way, expropriation and/or tunnelling would add tens of billions of dollars and years to the project. And you're going to fly into Toronto, then take Alto to Ottawa, Montreal or Quebec, adding three to four hours to your trip? Nope. Your going to transfer to a plane, baggage ticketed through, and get there in an hour or less.
But ultimately what you're talking about is public money with endless operational subsidies competing against private investment in a sector that is already taxed higher than others. "We" aren't wasting money on Billy Bishop as it's recouped by from the airlines and passengers. And it's $65M, not $200B. Pearson is maxed out and Alto is a fiscal black hole designed to funnel cash to Quebec interests. But if you're really worried about public access to the islands, just buy out the sweetheart leases given to the people that never owned property on the Islands and built cottages on parkland.
Doug Ford doesn't even know that UP Express (UPX) exists! In his press conference he mentioned that Billy Bishop would be easier to reach than 'driving up to Pearson'. It's another real estate & rich friends deal...
This is a great example of the kind of thinking that has brought Canada to its current situation of abysmal growth, low productivity, and quickly approaching fiscal collapse.
The reason they want to expand Billy Bishop is because the demand exists (it also has to be regardless of jets due tobTransport Canada regs). If people wanted to spend an extra 30 to 45 minutes getting a train on a short haul flight, they would be doing that already. The heavily subsidized UP Express is seldom used by passengers and mostly serves as a commuter link and a way for airport employees to get to work - recall that it has never met its ridership goals and had to cut its fares by two thirds (it's also not an "express" anymore). It's faster to take transit to Billy Bishop from virtually anywhere in Toronto. Additionally, Toronto has been planning a third airport in the GTA for quite some time because Pearson is at its limit. Alto doesn't solve that.
Alto will likely never be built, as the cost will certainly surpass $200B for the entire route based on California's HSR, not the lowball $90B quoted, and there is no business case for it. If the tickets for Alto aren't heavily subsidized, they will certainly be multiples of the cost of an airline ticket. In the event sanity does not prevail and Alto to Toronto is built and subsidized to the tune of 90%+ (meaning taxpayers across Canada would be funding your trip - it will make Canada Post subsidies look like pocket change), it will never go to Pearson, nor will it be going to Ottawa International or Trudeau - the rights of way, expropriation and/or tunnelling would add tens of billions of dollars and years to the project. And you're going to fly into Toronto, then take Alto to Ottawa, Montreal or Quebec, adding three to four hours to your trip? Nope. Your going to transfer to a plane, baggage ticketed through, and get there in an hour or less.
But ultimately what you're talking about is public money with endless operational subsidies competing against private investment in a sector that is already taxed higher than others. "We" aren't wasting money on Billy Bishop as it's recouped by from the airlines and passengers. And it's $65M, not $200B. Pearson is maxed out and Alto is a fiscal black hole designed to funnel cash to Quebec interests. But if you're really worried about public access to the islands, just buy out the sweetheart leases given to the people that never owned property on the Islands and built cottages on parkland.