Metrolinx, GTAA sign cost-sharing agreement to study improved transit-airport connections
Metrolinx and the Greater Toronto Airports Authority (GTAA) have moved their shared commitment to ease airport-transit connections forward with the signing of a cost-sharing agreement that will evaluate several options.
According to Metrolinx, the agreement lays out the following options that will be studied by the two entities:
• A potential connection from the Kitchener GO rail corridor to Toronto Pearson’s planned Regional Transit and Passenger Center.
• Possible connections from Eglinton Crosstown West, the Finch Light Rail Transit, Mississauga’s Bus Rapid Transit and various local and regional bus services into Toronto Pearson.
• Improvements to ground transportation to/from the airport and airport employment area.
• Phasing considerations related to the above.
Metrolinx and GTAA announced their plans to study transit connections to the airport and future Regional Transit and Passenger Center in April 2018. At the time the partnership was announced, GTAA said the plan to “better integrate transit projects into Canada’s busiest airport will help connect the country’s second largest employment zone and reduce highway congestion.” GTAA also noted that there is a need to better connect the 49,000 workers based at Toronto Pearson and the 300,000 people who work in the airport employment zone.
In December 2019, GTAA committed C$40 million (US$30.4 million) to a joint effort to study the extension of the Eglinton Crosstown to the airport and establish a second transit hub: Union Station West. The proposed project to build the Eglinton light-rail line west was included in an agreement reached in October between the province of Ontario and the city of Toronto.
Mischa Wanek-Libman | Group Editorial Director
Mischa Wanek-Libman is director of communications with Transdev North America. She has more than 20 years of experience working in the transportation industry covering construction projects, engineering challenges, transit and rail operations and best practices.
Wanek-Libman has held top editorial positions at freight rail and public transportation business-to-business publications including as editor-in-chief and editorial director of Mass Transit from 2018-2024. She has been recognized for editorial excellence through her individual work, as well as for collaborative content.
She is an active member of the American Public Transportation Association's Marketing and Communications Committee and served 14 years as a Board Observer on the National Railroad Construction and Maintenance Association (NRC) Board of Directors.
She is a graduate of Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa, where she earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Journalism and Mass Communication.
