November 26, 2014 at 3:52 PM
People in cities around the world enjoy affordable and accessible public
transit between their downtown core and airports. Unfortunately Toronto is not
one of those cities; it can be expensive and time consuming getting to and from
Pearson airport (YYZ).
In preparation for the 2015 Pan Am Games, the Ontario
Government is building a $500 million rail link from YYZ to Union Station – that
takes only 25 minutes from pillar to post.
The Union Pearson Express (UPX) is
100% taxpayer funded. However Metrolinx, the agency in charge has decided that
it will be a premium rather than public rail link, with one-way fares costing
anywhere from $20 to $30.
This means that once completed, the UPX will be
the most expensive rail ticket per kilometre anywhere in North America. It will
service at most 5,000 premium passengers a day (versus the 160,000 people daily
who use the affordable Canada Line airport rail link in Vancouver).
This is elitism run amok and it’s time to take a stand!
A coalition of transit users,
community activists and airport workers has launched an important campaign to
make the UPX an affordable public service for all. This includes thousands of
airline workers and their families from other cities, who travel to Toronto for
business or vacation.
In the days ahead representatives from the Toronto
Airport Council of Unions and coalition partners will be meeting with Metrolinx
to discuss the fare issue. We need your support. Your signature on the attached
petition will go a long way in the fight for a fair UPX fare.
Please sign the
petition and forward it to all of your contacts locally and abroad.
It’s time to make our voices heard!
The Toronto Airport Council of Unions represents
over 20,000 workers at YYZ from CUPE, IAMAW, Teamsters, Unifor Local 2002 and
UNITE HERE)
For more information:
TTC riders: a voice for
transit riders - ourunionpearson.ca
Toronto Star: Pearson employees outraged at steep airport-link fares
Toronto Star: Metrolinx officials agree to discuss UP Express fares with airport
workers
/14-11-27 Join the fight for a fair Union to Pearson fare HTML en.txt
Tags: #upx #unionpearsonexpress #train #transit #ttc #gtaa #seansmith