Winnipeg City Transit/Rapid Transit

[Andy6]

I don't see how the Winnipeg airport would generate anywhere remotely close to the amount of traffic that would justify an LRT connection to downtown. Maybe in the year 3000 or something. LRTs cost hundreds of millions. It would be cheaper to hand out cab fare to everyone who needs it, which doesn't appear to be very many given the lack of taxis around the airport.

[jmt18325]

Originally Posted by Andy6

given the lack of taxis around the airport.

What? I think about 1/3 of the taxi fleet is parked there most of the time.

[viperred88]

Originally Posted by Andy6

I don't see how the Winnipeg airport would generate anywhere remotely close to the amount of traffic that would justify an LRT connection to downtown. Maybe in the year 3000 or something. LRTs cost hundreds of millions. It would be cheaper to hand out cab fare to everyone who needs it, which doesn't appear to be very many given the lack of taxis around the airport.

well if you merge the 14 and 15 bus routes from downtown to the airport it would work, heck even though I hate Polio Park I would even loop it there. It would be the shortest bus route in the city for an expensive LRT system that this city can't even get even though edmonton, calgary and I think ottawa has one and they are not really dense cities.

[1ajs]

Originally Posted by Andy6

I don't see how the Winnipeg airport would generate anywhere remotely close to the amount of traffic that would justify an LRT connection to downtown. Maybe in the year 3000 or something. LRTs cost hundreds of millions. It would be cheaper to hand out cab fare to everyone who needs it, which doesn't appear to be very many given the lack of taxis around the airport.

as jtm mentioned a 1/3 of the fleet sits at the airport at any given time in a taxi stand area just sitting there waiting their turn to go up to the doors to pick up a fare

[Spocket]

Andy's right.
Don't forget that the reason people take cabs from the airport instead buses is because :
1 - Visitors don't know where they're going to begin with.
2 - They have luggage to drag around
3 - Door to door service

[Andy6]

Originally Posted by jmt18325

What? I think about 1/3 of the taxi fleet is parked there most of the time.

I'll take your word for it, but usually there seem to be just one or two outside the doors, as opposed to dozens swarming around in Toronto, where you might have 100 people in line for taxis at a busy time of year. But maybe they're all waiting in some place I've not noticed. Anyway, it seems unlikely that a business traveller is going to want to get on an LRT rather than just take a taxi, especially given the very small fare required to get to a downtown hotel.

[grumpy old man]

Calgary airport to downtown -15kms
Edmonton airport to downtown -30kms
Ottawa airport to downtown -16kms
Winnipeg airport to downtown -10kms

[jmt18325]

Originally Posted by Andy6

But maybe they're all waiting in some place I've not noticed.

Probably. There is an area where all the taxis and limos gather. As some leave, others take their old spot in front of the doors.

[Keng]

Prior to and during construction the taxi's used to be held in front of PLH/ the fueling company. Near the storage tanks east of the new terminal. The airport had/has a taxi dispatcher onsite that sends in replacement cabs to the front of the terminal as needed, and they follow the airline schedule as much as possible. During busy periods there used to be are as many as 50 cabs waiting in the holding corral. Of course this is from a few years back, maybe the location has changed since.

[Kinguni]

It's still there.

[1ajs]

Originally Posted by grumpy old man

Calgary airport to downtown -15kms
Edmonton airport to downtown -30kms
Ottawa airport to downtown -16kms
Winnipeg airport to downtown -10kms

6.5kms from the front of the terminal to portage and main in a striaght line

if u drive its 8.4kms
http://maps.google.ca/maps?hl=en&tab=wl

[RTD]

Originally Posted by 1ajs

6.5kms from the front of the terminal to portage and main in a striaght line

if u drive its 8.4kms
http://maps.google.ca/maps?hl=en&tab=wl

Okay, now do all the other cities that GOM mentionned if you want to be bloody nitpicky about it.

[Riverman]

Originally Posted by Andy6

I'll take your word for it, but usually there seem to be just one or two outside the doors, as opposed to dozens swarming around in Toronto, where you might have 100 people in line for taxis at a busy time of year. But maybe they're all waiting in some place I've not noticed. Anyway, it seems unlikely that a business traveller is going to want to get on an LRT rather than just take a taxi, especially given the very small fare required to get to a downtown hotel.

Toronto has a very efficient express bus (192) that runs from the airport to Kipling station, airport to downtown in 40 minutes for a $2.50 token.

An LRT is planned for Eglington to the airport.

[BKB]

It is an extremely long wait for a cab during peak times especially during charter season (winter).

[grumpy old man]

Originally Posted by BKB

It is an extremely long wait for a cab during peak times especially during charter season (winter).

In my dozens and dozens (hundreds?) of arrivals at Pearson I can count on one hand having to wait for more than a few minutes for a cab or limo.

[grumpy old man]

Originally Posted by Riverman

An LRT is planned for Eglington to the airport.

They still talking about that? I lived in Toronto from 1990 - 2006. It seems to me they were talking about rapid transit from the airport every single year.

It'll be easier now that there is one major terminal versus the three terminals.

[MalcolmTucker]

Originally Posted by Riverman

Toronto has a very efficient express bus (192) that runs from the airport to Kipling station, airport to downtown in 40 minutes for a $2.50 token.

An LRT is planned for Eglington to the airport.

The LRT just had its funding cut by the provincial government. And the express bus has something like 2000 users a day, which represents only what planners call captive riders.

Direct node to node transit is much more effective, which is what Winnipeg should do - a premium service for a premium price between the airport and the biggest 1 or two hotel/convention clusters. In Toronto it is able to operate at a profit - in Winnipeg probably not, but the benefit would be really worth more than the subsidy for a couple buses.

[ILYR]

One has to remember that transit to and from the airport is not just for passengers. Winnipeg international and the surrounding support industry employ a lot of people. If you include Canada Post, cargo operations and all of the aerospace industry the number of people working around the airport is even higher. Many of these people do not drive. I frequently take the bus to and from the airport and I can tell you 80% of the people that get on the bus are airport employes.

[MalcolmTucker]

I will quote myself:

Originally Posted by Sir.Humphrey.Appleby

^ All those workers have free parking and come from all over the city. Also, their destinations are very spread out amongst the airport/ soon to be centre port lands. All in all hard to serve with transit.

[1ajs]

Originally Posted by Sir.Humphrey.Appleby

I will quote myself:

face palms

hes not talking about those hes talking about whats in that area to the terminal....