[URBAN NOTE] "Union Pearson Express ridership spikes after fare reduction"

[rfmcdonald]

The Toronto Star's Tess Kalinowski notes that, unsurprisingly, ridership of the Union-Pearson Express has risen sharply following cuts to the fare.

Half the price has bought the Union Pearson Express train twice the riders, according to Metrolinx.

A week after the provincial agency cut fares by more than half, early estimates show that ridership is holding steady at about 5,000 a day.

Before the price drop, the UPX was only drawing about 2,000 to 2,200 riders.

Last Wednesday, the first day of the new prices, 83 per cent of UPX riders were air travellers. The other 17 per cent were commuters, said Metrolinx spokeswoman Anne Marie Aikins.

Staff counted about 5,300 boardings that day and that’s held steady since, she said. Forty per cent of Wednesday’s riders were first-time UPX users.