Hey guys, welcome back to the channel! Today, we are bringing you another installment in
our Airport Future series, in which we discuss the future expansion plans of passenger service
at various airports around the world. This time, it is finally time to discuss our home
airport, Toronto Pearson International Airport, and we’ll be looking at the future of the
airport as outlined by the 20 year Master Plan released by the Greater Toronto Airports
Authority in 2017. Let’s get started!
[Intro]
Before we get to the video, we want to give a quick shoutout to all of our patrons. Thanks
so much for your support! Supporting us on Patreon is the best way to help us keep bringing
new content to you guys frequently, and you’ll also be able to access our exclusive community
Discord server for a direct channel of communication to us. You can also support us by giving a
one-time donation, which you can do through our Ko-fi page.
And furthermore, we wanted to quickly remind everyone to practice social distancing in
this difficult time, please stay home and keep yourself and your community safe.
Alright, time to get back to the main content of the day.
Lester B Pearson International Airport, also known as Toronto Pearson International Airport,
or otherwise known by its IATA airport code YYZ, is the largest and busiest airport in
Canada, and the 31st busiest airport in the world by passenger traffic. It is located
in Mississauga, Ontario, just west of Toronto’s Etobicoke region, and it is a hub for Air
Canada and WestJet, and a focus city for Air Transat and Sunwing. These are the airport’s
current boundaries, inside of which it hosts five runways, two primary passenger terminals,
and its expansive cargo operations and facilities.
Out of the five runways here at YYZ, three are aligned in the east-west direction with
the other two in the north-south direction, and there is an extensive network of taxiways
connecting the runways to terminals and hangers.
Pearson International currently has two main passenger terminals. Terminal 1 on the southeast
side is the largest airport terminal in Canada by floor space, and it is occupied by Air
Canada, Emirates, as well as Star Alliance airlines. The other terminal is terminal 3,
a smaller and older terminal hosting all other airlines including WestJet, Air Transat, and
SkyTeam airlines. Besides these two, a small infield terminal is also in operation, originally
constructed to handle traffic displaced by the terminal 1 renovations 15 years ago, and
was closed in 2009 after those renovations were completed. A few years ago it received
significant renovations before it was used to welcome Syrian refugees, and it is currently
open as a satellite concourse of terminal 3. The old terminal 2 was permanently closed
and demolished in 2007, before being replaced by the newly renovated terminal 1.
In terms of parking and landside access, the airport is located right off highways 427
and 409, which are connected to highway 401, linking it easily to the rest of the Greater
Toronto Area. Giant parking garages are connected to both of the terminals, and there are also
value parking lots and cell phone lots available further from the terminals, as well as a major
value parking parkade located at Viscount Station on the Pearson Link train. While these
parkades may not look huge from their footprints alone, they are some of the largest parking
garages in the world.
Driving is still unfortunately the most common way to access the airport, but if you want
to take public transit instead, there are also lots of options available.
The most prominent one is the Union Pearson Express, a fast airport rail link that connects
the airport to Union Station in downtown Toronto. Since it uses the GO Kitchener line corridor
for most of the way, it also has intermediate stops at Weston and Bloor GO Stations. Operating
daily from 5Am to 1 AM, the trains depart every 15 minutes from terminal 1, and it only
takes 25 minutes to arrive at union, providing an easy connection between the airport and
the city’s greater multimodal transit network.
Bus transit is also widely available from multiple transit agencies in the GTA, with
the TTC connecting to various subway stations in Toronto, GO Transit connecting to GO Transit
terminals in the GTA, MiWay connecting to Mississauga, Brampton Transit connecting to
Brampton, and Greyhound Canada connecting to other cities across Southern Ontario and
select US cities nearby.
As mentioned in order to travel between the two terminals of the airport, the airport
has the Link Train, an automated people mover that travels between terminal 1, terminal
3, and the Viscount Value Parking Lot, providing 24 hour service with departures every 4 to
8 minutes.
Alright, so this is the current passenger facility situation here at Toronto Pearson,
with lots of good options in terms of terminals, transit, and landside access. Let’s now
take a look at the expansions coming to the airport, which will greatly improve the current
facilities.
Starting with runways and taxiways, we are getting a number of taxiway improvements that
will improve access to terminals and the runways, as well as a future east-west runway that
will run parallel with the three existing ones. The runway is not part of the current
twenty year master plan, but it will be constructed in the future when needed.
Now, let’s take a look at the terminals in a bit more detail. Terminal 1 will be getting
a new concourse H on the east side, as well as expanding the current concourses and apron
areas. The main Terminal 3 will be connected to its west side pier A with more gate capacity,
and there are options under consideration to connect terminals 1 and 3 by expanding
their facilities towards each other, making a massive combined terminal. These are some
of the short -to-medium term development options along with other technology and operational
changes to the terminal, and it is more than enough for the expected capacities of the
next twenty years.
In terms of parking and landside access, no major expansion is currently planned besides
improved roadways and better access of the highways, as the GTAA believes that the airport
will continue to be better and better served by public transit, and personal vehicle access
will not rise to exceed current capacities anytime soon.
This then brings us to the exciting public transit upgrades coming to airport grounds,
something the Authority much prefers in terms of future development.
The Eglinton Crosstown is an under-construction light rail line running across Toronto on
Eglinton Avenue, with an in development westward extension to the airport. This future extension
is part of the provincial government’s rapid transit plan, and with this extension in place,
the airport will be conveniently linked to midtown Toronto and beyond, and finally with
the TTC rail network. While the grade separation of the planned line is controversial as a
subway line, and even though we would prefer it be built as an elevated line, we do think
the travel time and reliability benefits justify a grade separated line here.
The Finch West LRT is an under-construction 11-kilometre light rail line that will run
along Finch avenue from Humber College to Finch West subway station, with a possible
westward extension to Pearson Airport. This extension has also not been funded yet, but
with the announcement of a large-scale mixed-use development at the Woodbine racetrack lands,
as well as a major new GO Station, Metrolinx is anticipated to undertake additional planning
studies in the near future, and this will provide a great connection to uptown Toronto.
For the Union Pearson Express and GO Transit’s Kitchener line, we have a grand future plan
of the Regional Express Rail, or RER program, that will result in the eventual electrification
of all GO rail lines and much higher frequencies of trains. With all these upgrades in place,
there could be a diversion from the existing Kitchener track corridor offering direct service
to and from the airport, with even a possibility for High Speed Rail in the distant future.
This would mean much faster and more convenient access to the airport from the cities on the
Kitchener RER corridor, and it is something that the GTAA is very much looking into for
the future.
Besides these future rail connections, we can’t forget about the Mississauga Transitway,
a dedicated corridor for Bus Rapid Transit services Southwest of the airport connecting
Mississauga’s main destinations. There is already a 24 hour express route between the
transit way and Toronto Pearson, and future upgrades may become available for this connection,
such as a dedicated transit-only bridge across highway 401, as well as transit priority lanes
and signals along the route.
All of these transit connections finally bring us to the future centerpiece of transit at
Toronto Pearson, a Regional Transit Centre that will be located north of the terminals,
where all the transit expansions will eventually converge, serving as a regional mobility hub
for the western portion of the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area, as well as the massive
Pearson employment zone.
Union station has long been the only centralized hub in the whole GTHA, and having this western
hub in place will divert a lot of traffic away from the busy Union station, improving
connectivity in the region, and provide smoother access to the airport itself.
Along with the transportation improvements, the Regional Transit centre will also be developed
together with a new facility known as Terminal-New, which would relieve pressure on existing terminals
by handling functions such as check-in and security screening.
The regional transit centre is expected to commence operations in a decade or two, but
in the near future, there will be improvements to bus connection access, and the transit
centre will slowly be developed to accommodate each additional transit extension.
Along with these transit developments, the link service will unfortunately be stopped,
once the transit centre is in place and connections to the terminals are established. In the meantime
though, it will be getting service expansions to accommodate growing passenger traffic demands.
Alright guys, so this is what the future of Toronto Pearson International Airport will
look like, with a myriad of transit and passenger services coming in the future. This especially
excites us being transit lovers, as we love to see this kind of transit oriented mindset
and development throughout the plan.
Like, subscribe, and comment down below to tell us what part of the plan you are most
excited about, and what airport we should look at next. Follow us on Twitter and Instagram,
and support us on Patreon or Ko-fi if you would like to help us keep making great videos
for you. Thanks for watching, and we’ll see you in the next one!
[Music]