TTC rebrands its airport bus — the cheaper if not faster way to Pearson
As Metrolinx officials have been fending off controversy this week about the fares for the new Union Pearson Express (UPX) train, the TTC has been quietly putting the finishing touches on a new branding campaign for its own airport service.
About 4,500 people a day take the 192 bus known as the Airport Rocket. Many of them are airport workers. But avid travellers, including TTC CEO Andy Byford, also avail themselves of the bus that is fitted with luggage racks and makes only three stops between both Pearson terminals and Kipling Station.
The TTC wants to double that number of riders in the next year, said spokesman Brad Ross.
The timing of the Airport Rocket promotion coincides with the UPX launch in the spring and the Pan Am Games next summer. But Ross says the Rocket campaign, which has been in the works for about a year, is mostly to let Torontonians and travelers know that, like other big cities, Toronto has its own airport transit.
“We want people to use the service. We want people to know the TTC is an option for anyone who wants to go to the airport,” he said.
“There are systems around the world that have direct connections. We have an excellent express bus service. We want people to know it’s there,” said Ross.
Starting next month, the TTC is wrapping the 10 buses dedicated to the 192 route with a postcard-travel theme, including the message, “Your journey starts here.”
New subway maps that will begin appearing mid-January will, for the first time, show a surface route. The Airport Rocket will be a red line.
A poster campaign will roll out across the system, with the image of a woman holding a passport stamped with a TTC logo.
New route maps are also in the works for inside the 192 buses, detailing the express route. It runs up Highway 427, making four stops within the airport area. There will be new signage at Kipling for the 192 bus bay, and the TTC is working with the Greater Toronto Airports Authority to raise the bus’s visibility at Pearson.
The $100,000 cost of the campaign — the price of wrapping 10 buses — is part of the TTC’s deal with its advertising agency, said Ross.
Added to the time it takes to ride the subway to Kipling, the 192, which takes about 20 minutes to reach Terminal 1, inevitably takes longer than the 25-minute UPX trip from Union.
But the Airport Rocket runs about every 10 minutes most of the time — less frequently in the late evening — and its price, a subway token, is less than even the lowest UPX fares that were approved by the Metrolinx board on Thursday.
The UPX fare structure has stirred much controversy among those who believe the $456-million, publicly funded line should be priced the same as the TTC. Instead, its base price will be $27.50 for a one-way adult ticket.
A range of discounts means most Toronto riders will pay less, including anyone with a Presto card. Airport workers will receive the most significant reductions. They will be able to ride the UPX for $10, or the equivalent of $7.50 a trip for those who buy a $300 monthly pass.
“When we look at other kinds of services that we offer through GO Transit, those are the similar kinds of fares that people pay every day,” said Metrolinx CEO Bruce McCuaig.
NDP MP Mike Sullivan (York South-Weston) said the cost of UPX is actually closer to $1.4 billion, but Metrolinx hasn’t included in its figure the money spent upgrading the Kitchener GO line. All that additional track capacity will be eaten up by the UPX, he said.
“Everything is in aid of getting this weird service up for the business elite, and that’s not what Torontonians believe public transit is supposed to be,” Sullivan said.
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