[lightrail]

I just got back from a trip to Niagara Falls and thought I'd share some observations.

Getting from Toronto Airport to Toronto

On arrival at Terminal 1, ground transportation is well signed and easy to follow. The TTC bus stop is easy to find, with departure information for the various routes. The airport is served 24 hours a day by TTC route 192 (express to Kipling Subway) - the 58 Malton to the Spadina Subway, and two night routes. The 192 Express was running at 12 minute headways during the afternoon rush. The bus takes 20 minutes to get to Kipling Subway. Interestingly, even though the route is express, it does not run on the freeways - probably because of the chronic traffic congestion on the freeways.

TTC got it right with the subway stations; the buses pull into bays that are within the fare paid zone, behind the fare gates. So there is a quick painless transfer to and from the subway, without needing a transfer or to show any passes. Even though the trains are aging, the subway is comfortable, clean and fast. The drivers kept the dwell time to a minimun, in some cases opening the doors for only 5 seconds, depending on the demand. The trains were busy, but not crowded (though going the other way they were packed. One slow down for yellow flags, but otherwise maintained speed.

Transfer at St. George was okay. It's an easy transfer up the stairs to the University Line, but St. George's centre platforms are narrow by today's standards and the station can't handle the crowds transferring very well. We had to wait a while to get on the stairs up to the platform above.

Journey Time: 1 hour
Transfers: 2 (bus to subway, subway to subway)
Cost: $2.75 (no paper transfers needed)
Payment at airport: cash only (exact change)

Pros:
- easy transfers at subway
- frequent service
- clean
- takes 1 hour including transfers

Cons:
- Exact change only at the airport to board the bus cold be a problem for people arriving in the country
- no racks on the bus for bags lowers the buses capacity
- stairs and escalators not easy to navigate with bags - lifts at most locations, but there are some places where you need to navigate a few steps and no alternative
- need to make 2 transfers to reach Union Station


Getting from Vancouver Airport to Vancouver
On arrival at the domestic terminal, signage for the SKyTrain is not well marked. There are signs saying "Canada Line" with a train pictogram, but to me this is not obvious as a sign towards public transport. It would be easy to get lost finding the trains.

The station is open, bright, airy and welcoming. Ticket machines are easy to use (now they've fixed them to provide on-screen directions for using credit cards). Train information display makes it easy to know when the next train is arriving and where it is going. Friendly attendant very helpful, cheerful - great way to welcome people to the system and Vancouver. Trains serve the airport from 5:00am to 1:00am and after that the N10 serves the airport until 3am (but from a different part of the airport terminal).

On this Sunday morning, the trains were running every 12 minutes, but arrive a good 6 minutes before departure, allowing people to settle on the train well in advance of departure. The train was half full leaving the airport. Trip downtown was fast. The system is clean and reliable. Only annoying thing is the train is too talky, I don't need to be told the train is "for waterfront" on leaving every station. As the trains are automated, dwell time at stations is programmed according to demand. Dwell time at some stations seemed too long given the traffic.

No barrier access and open spaces on the trains makes it easy to use the system with luggage.

Journey Time: 25 minutes
Transfers: None
Cost: $2.50 sunday ($3.75 weekdays 6am-6pm)
Payment at airport: Credit cards, debit cards or cash (change given)

Pros:
- quick, fast and smooth

Cons:
- poor signage at the airport
- relatively expensive for the distance, though still a good deal

Nuit Blanche
As an aside, I also experienced Nuit Blanche in Toronto on Saturday night. The subway was running all night for the event; over 1 million people experience the contemporary art festival. My experience went something like this:
10pm - arrived by subway at Dundas Square - Toronto Time's Square.
10:30pm - City Hall plaza - fantastic word machine using 1500 watt halogens and suspended 200 ft up between the twin city hall towers
11:00pm - Bay Street - wild ride and other interactive art
11:30pm - Union Station - in the darkened hall, sound, light and smoke evoked a bygone era of travel - all while regular passengers and porters pushed their way through the crowds to and from in-service trains
12:00 midnight - Lambert galleria - witches cradles and refreshments (for us)
1:00am - took a streetcar a few kilometres east to the Distillery district - more art in old buildings and alleyways
2:00am - took a streetcar west to Liberty Square (the streetcars were extremely crowded, so much so, the driver was letting people board at the rear doors and not worrying about payment - most people had a Nuit Blanche transit pass anyway)
2:30am - watching and listening art on the ceiling of a 24 hour supermarket
3:00am - watching two lit construction cranes dance to music - pretty wild and weired
4:00am 0 I had to leave to catch my flight back to the west coast - but Nuit Blanche continued until the sun rises...