BurlingtonJames
New Member
The claim that UP Express ridership will go up to 5000/day is BS. Clearly the UP Express has been a failure with half the projected ridership. This is not very surprising given how high UP Express fares are. I think that very few people are willing to pay such high prices to go to the airport when the TTC 192 is much cheaper, when Metrolinx is competing with itself by offering the 34 from North York Centre and the 40 from Hamilton, Square One and Richmond Hill Centre, and when taking a taxi/Uber is often cheaper if you are with more than 1 person. It is much cheaper per km to drive on the 407 than take the UP Express, and everyone thinks that 407 tolls are too high.
Also I am amused that only 5000 people total (total in 3 months of operation, not per day) have bought tickets through partners like VIA Rail and Air Canada.
Metrolinx is going to have to cut fares to prevent the UP Express from being an embarrassment that hurts its reputation. In the long term, the UP Express may be replaced by SmartTrack.
I've said it before, but they should charge GO fares from Bloor/Weston to Union to fill some seats and build ridership towards an eventual RER/SmartTrack/whatever service.
Also, I don't think anyone has a clue what the price elasticity really looks like for a Union-Pearson trip. It would be interesting if they ran a discounted fare for a couple weeks, say $10 one-way, and see what that does for ridership. Could do it around the Christmas travel season and put some positive spin on the service.