Let’s celebrate a UP Express train that’s affordable for everyone

After months of overpriced, underused service, Metrolinx has announced much lower prices

Better late than never.

When Metrolinx announced Tuesday that it was dramatically lowering fares on its Union-Pearson Express line, it was acknowledging a reality (that there was little market for the train at luxury-service prices) long seen as obvious by average schmoes.

So clear was the overpricing of the service that even I could spot it, and I wrote suggesting price cuts in July and September of last year, when those who ran the service were insisting that everything was going according to plan and that trains running 90-percent empty was exactly what they’d hoped for in their first year. If those were honest statements — if the executives claiming they were happy with ridership genuinely meant that having the provincial government’s $456 million trains carry fewer people than most TTC bus routes was their plan — they were making the case for their own thundering incompetence. If it was bluster meant to stall, hoping people would suddenly start thinking it was a bargain, it didn’t work, as a recent Forum poll shows people were becoming more and more convinced over time that the thing was a ripoff.

But why revisit that history today? Today is a day to celebrate. Credit where credit is due, Metrolinx now may have gotten it right. The new fare, $12 between the airport and downtown ($9 with a Presto card) on a comfortable train, is a genuinely good deal for those coming from or going to places nearish to Union Station.

Better yet, the $5-or-so fares for those travelling from Bloor or Weston stations to downtown and back (matching fares for the similar but less frequent, limited service GO trains) should make it a decent commuter option for a number of riders. Since the subway system is overcrowded during the morning rush hour, and the morning rush hour is explicitly not a high-demand time for travel from the airport, it only makes sense to see if you can give some of those morning commuters a ride.

Of course, $5 is a premium over the TTC fare. But consider that right now, the TTC trip from Weston Road and Lawrence to Union takes approximately an hour.

That same trip on the UP Express takes 17 minutes, so many people in Weston may feel the premium is worth every penny. (And many people who work near Union may suddenly be inclined to take a look at relatively affordable apartment and housing options near Weston, too.)

We’ll see how the public reacts after the prices are implemented March 9. If the trains suddenly become overcrowded, they can inch fares back up. If ridership is still too low, the agency could try offering some further discount for those transferring from the TTC — right now if you need to take a bus to get to the closest UPX station or a subway at the end of your trip, the additional $3.25 cost could be a big hurdle. Imagine someone taking a bus to Weston, a UPX trip to Union and then a subway to College — as it stands, they’d be facing two TTC fares if they use UPX, plus the train cost.

We’ll see if the UPX needs this kind of deal with TTC riders based on how they react to the new fares. But the way people transfer between TTC and Metrolinx-run train services is something that it’d be nice to see the agency tackle sooner rather than later. Because it’s becoming clear that Smart-Track, whatever it winds up being, will run on lines (and possibly trains) owned by Metrolinx, and Metrolinx is building Toronto’s LRT lines, and the electrified, frequent-service GO lines Metrolinx is putting in on its Lakeshore line could be a real value to Toronto commuters. How all of these things — and UPX — function as part of the Toronto transit network depends in part on how easily and affordably people can transfer from TTC vehicles to Metrolinx ones. Among transit folks, it’s called “fare integration.” We’ve long been promised that once the TTC fully adopts the Presto card system, fare integration will be a cinch. But not so much if the “integration” involves TTC passengers paying triple or quadruple what they pay now.

If the whole experience so far with UPX has taught us anything, it is that Metrolinx, as an agency, doesn’t necessarily have a keen instinct for divining the mind of the common commuter when it comes to matters of the fare box. By lowering the price Tuesday, they showed at least that they learned something, albeit under heavy pressure from their political masters at Queen’s Park. For all of our sake, let’s hope that learning is integrated into how they approach their upcoming projects, all of which are vastly more important than UPX for GTA transportation as a whole. Edward Keenan writes on city issues ekeenan@thestar.ca. Follow: @thekeenanwire