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Pickering Airport (Transport Canada/GTAA, Proposed)

There are strong rumours from multiple sources that JetBlue will be adding flights from Boston and JFK to YYZ.....announcement in October....:)

They are also planning on adding flights to Calgary and Montreal..
 
It is too bad they didn't keep the rail line up the escarpment as a rail line. It would have been an easy link to the airport. Now that it is a trail and an interchange has been built on the Alexander Pwky along the path of it, reclaiming the route for an air-rail link would be difficult although not impossible. Any link requiring people to transfer off the GO and onto the HSR and stop at many stops along the way to the airport makes Hamilton so inconvenient to people in the central GTA it may as well be on Mars.
 
^But they offer service that in many instances trains simply can't offer.

Not in the Quebec-Windsor corridor, though. I've flown countless times on corridor flights, and the train is potentially vastly superior. Even now, the 5pm express from Montreal to Toronto is the way to go if you're travelling from downtown to downtown. If they could actually get real high speed and operate an express more than three times a day, the airlines would be clobbered. Another huge problem is discontinuity. As we have heard many times in the Blue 22 debates, only 17% of people flying from Pearson come from downtown Toronto. The train does a terrible job of serving that other 83%. The only concession to people outside of downtown is the handful of trains that stop at Guildwood, and even that is only convenient for people from Scarborough. If you're trying to go from Hamilton or Mississauga or K-W to Ottawa or Montreal (which is a huge amount of the traffic on those flights), Pearson is much easier to get to than Union Station.
 
That's prime agricultural land too. And we haven't got much left.
 
I don't get your point.

Are you concerned about Pickering using up agricultural land? Mount Hope? New rail lines?

If you're talking Pickering, yeah, that looks like the biggest waste of good land to me. If growth continues as it has for the past several decades however, and the transport technology doesn't change drastically other than becoming incrementally more fuel efficient, then I don't see a way of escaping an eventual need for Pickering. I just hope we can put it off longer by maximizing the use of Mount Hope and Pearson and by improving rail transport to both of them.

42
 
I don't get your point.

Are you concerned about Pickering using up agricultural land? Mount Hope? New rail lines?

If you're talking Pickering, yeah, that looks like the biggest waste of good land to me. If growth continues as it has for the past several decades however, and the transport technology doesn't change drastically other than becoming incrementally more fuel efficient, then I don't see a way of escaping an eventual need for Pickering. I just hope we can put it off longer by maximizing the use of Mount Hope and Pearson and by improving rail transport to both of them.

42

I always get concerned when any farmland is southern Ontario disappears. We have so little of it. And it doesn't make environmental sense to buy tomatoes from half way around the world when we can grow it in our own backyard. The Pickering airport lands comprises almost 20,000 hectares, 2/3 of which is in agricultural production (according to its draft plan). Once that land is gone, it's gone. We need to put off building that airport as long as possible.
 
We don't need good agricultural land to grow tomatoes or many other veggies. Most vegetables can be produced quite effectively and efficiently in greenhouses, usually with low or no pesticides and increasingly using carbon-neutral energy inputs. More importantly, they can be built on more marginal land.
 
A number of greenhouse growers use carbon dioxide enrichment.


We don't need good agricultural land?

Why don't we need good agricultural land?
 
Erm, what's your point Hydrogen? I did say carbon neutral... the trend is toward biomass energy sources for heating. CO_2 is usually obtained by burning natural gas for heat and capturing the CO_2 (which is used to increase plant yield), however. I imagine that systems will be developed to capture CO_2 from biomass flue gasses to avoid the use of expensive natural gas.
 
We don't need good agricultural land to grow tomatoes or many other veggies. Most vegetables can be produced quite effectively and efficiently in greenhouses, usually with low or no pesticides and increasingly using carbon-neutral energy inputs. More importantly, they can be built on more marginal land.

Your not selling me on this one. I have not found any really good Tomatoes sold in Toronto since moving here for the first time 20 years ago.
 
A number of greenhouse growers use carbon dioxide enrichment.


We don't need good agricultural land?

Why don't we need good agricultural land?


I guess we don't need rainforest either?
 
Even now, the 5pm express from Montreal to Toronto is the way to go if you're travelling from downtown to downtown.

I disagree. I've given up on Via's unreliable service and took the plunge and bought the Porter Airlines 10-pack. Other than the inconvenience of Trudeau Airport, it's the way to go. Don't forget the free food and beer!
 
2 weeks ago

Yes, my sister flew in from Israel/West Bank -- in route to Ottawa. She figured that the train would take her to Ottawa in a reasonable amount of time. 10 hours later, they were dragged into Ottawa, after the train broke down -- then deciding that buses were going to take them the rest of the way -- had people drag their luggage off the plane (without help - and with back problems - so she was paying for assistance from VIA for getting the luggage on) -- then decided they could not get the buses -- so they reboarded the train (no airconditioning, failing toilets) then waiting to be dragged into Ottawa ....
 
Your not selling me on this one. I have not found any really good Tomatoes sold in Toronto since moving here for the first time 20 years ago.

Plant some in a garden? It's not difficult, and it's the only way to get decent tomatoes (fresh off the plant).

On the other hand, I've living in the same area as you for just as long, and I've had some decent tomatoes (though most are crap). It's like Canadians and coffee... we don't know what good tastes like, so we settle for crap.
 
I live in a condo, so I rely on what is available....

I seem to remember hearing someone saying that when discussing tomatoes -- the criteria on what type to grow for the market -- they were using a whole lot of criteria like durability etc. -- but no-where in the list was taste :eek:

I am guessing the sad state of tomatoes is because of gas being used to ripen them :rolleyes:
 

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