Toronto, Montreal, and Vancouver are the three largest cities in Canada. As such, they play a pivotal role in the economy, growth, and development of Canada as both a nation unto itself and as an international destination for commerce, tourism, and immigration. Sad it is, then, that Toronto, arguably the ‘crown jewel' of the three major cities in Canada, has very little public transport infrastructure catering specifically to the needs of international commuters and travelers who see Pearson International Airport as a necessary waypoint on their journeys. The literature on the topic of urban travel and development is virtually unanimous on the issue of ensuring an adequate level of public transportation in any plans for the future growth of cities. Despite this unanimity, the City of Toronto seems to regularly disregard the growing economic, social, and political contributions that regular and public transit access to Pearson International Airport could potentially have if it were managed properly. The present study is an analysis of the role of easy and convenient transport to and from Pearson International Airport for both regular urban travelers based in Toronto and visitors to Toronto. After reviewing the literature that exists with respect to the role of major airports in the economy of the city, the success of mass transit schemes in alleviating traffic congestion arising from travelers commuting to the airport, and the important role of public transit in general, the present paper will argue that greater efforts need to be made by the city to create and maintain a viable, long-term public transit system that takes as its foci various destinations of the urban GTA and the terminals of Pearson International Airport. Other cities have, with success, integrated their public transit infrastructure with the needs of international travelers of their airports. It is time that Toronto does the same.
[...] (Kivett, 1996: 99-102) Rail alignment refers to the way in which pre-existing rail systems can be used in the integration of the urban transit system and the airport transit system. Location of transit systems refers to the fact that people will tend to use a system that has indoor rail stations that minimize passenger walking, rather than stations that are situated far from check-in or ticket counter areas. Baggage handling refers to the requirement that rail stations be situated as close as possible to check-in sections of the airport. [...]
[...] While plans for a light rail system to alleviate traffic congestion in other parts of the city have been considered for a long time, the political will to pressure Provincial and Federal levels of government to help pay for the infrastructure improvements has not been present. Hopefully, this case study analysis furnishes enough evidence from the literature to suggest that light rail transit connect Pearson International Airport with the rest of the GTA is an idea whose time has come. Bibliography Bednarek, J. (2000). “City Planning and Municipal Airports.” Planning Perspectives. 349-375. Bergener, J., Javid, M., & Seneviratne, P. (1996). “Planning and Analysis of Airport Access Using GIS: SLCIA Example. Rebuilding Inner City Airports. [...]
[...] With this in mind, it would be in the City of Toronto's best interests to respect this new and important role of the airport, and to ensure that transit to and from the airport is as easy and convenient as possible. One final recommendation, perhaps obvious by now, is that the politicians of Toronto spend more time soliciting higher branches of government to gain the funding necessary for what is sure to be a costly investment in transportation infrastructure. The politicians of the city need to make the politicians at the provincial and federal level aware of the fact that Toronto, along with Montreal and Vancouver, and perhaps to a lesser extent Calgary, are the economic engines of Canada, and without the full prosperity of Toronto and the other international cities of Canada, the entire country stands to lose out economically. [...]
[...] with the physical airport components.” (Vance, 1972: 234) Vance notes that, typically, airport planning concentrates far too much on the ‘airside' rather than the ‘groundside' of the trip, and Vance uses the example of Pearson International Airport in the examples he puts forward. At the time of the writing of this article people were claimed to be moving to and from the airport in an entire year. In the year 2000, the article projected a total of 800,000. In actual fact, in 2007, Pearson International saw almost 2.7 million people traveling to and from the airport from the GTA. [...]
[...] American Society of Civil Engineers: Louisville, KY. Brown, J. (2007). “Toronto Plans Network of Light Rail Systems.” Civil Engineering. May 2007. Brueckner, J. (2003). “Airline Traffic and Urban Economic Development.” Urban Studies. 1455-1469. Gorys, J. & Keen, S. (1999). “Measuring Congestion: The GTA Trip Travel- Time Study, A Methodological Study.” Institute of Transportation Engineers Journal. 34-40. Kennedy, C. [...]
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