Reflections on the great airport race

Re The great airport race, June 9 Some observations on your article about getting to Pearson airport:

1. By car is the cheapest: this assumes you do have a car (or access to one with a driver), which also implies considerable cost to have it available in the driveway in the first place. And what of the costs of leaving your vehicle at the airport while away? Or people who have no car, as do most visitors who arrive at Pearson?

2. Had the journeys been in the opposite direction at that time of day (Monday, 9:25 a.m.), the outcomes would have be quite different. Try it.

3. A fourth option, not mentioned, is GO Transit, which operates regular direct services to Pearson from Brampton, Richmond Hill and York Mills station. The one-way fare is less than $7 (even less using a Presto card) and you ride in the comfort of a full-sized bus with a courteous driver, who will help to load and offload baggage.

Finally, the biggest issue is the time it takes to get from check-in to your seat on the plane. The last time I departed Pearson, I had to line up 14 times before reaching my seat. Given that one must arrive at least 60 minutes before takeoff, the 20 minutes it takes on a GO bus from Richmond Hill seems almost insignificant. And all this, of course, assumes your flight does leave on time. John Grimley, Don Mills Some things never change. When the Bloor/Danforth Subway opened in 1966 a local radio station organized a rushhour race between Keele and Woodbine subway stations, the then ends of the line. The idea was to show how much faster the new subway was than a competing car. Of course, unfettered by the now removed streetcars on Bloor/Danforth, the car easily prevailed. Ted Flaxman, Toronto Have to smile when I read about UPX staff wearing designer clothes. Is it any wonder that the fares are so high?

I recently went from Ft. Lauderdale to Miami airport on their inter-airport train. No fancy uniforms, excellent service operated much like Go Transit. One way fare was $3.75 for a 35-minute ride. Ed Bignell, Pickering