Airport on Patrick Lam

How to leave Waterloo/how to get to YYZ

Wed, 04 Oct 2023 00:00:00 +0000

Yes, my Waterloo travel page is about how to leave Waterloo.

I thought I should have this as a top-level page instead of a blog post. Mostly, only the numbers have gotten bigger, but also I’ve added flixbus (for now). Past entries:

Here are various options for carless transportation from Waterloo in 2023.

To Pearson Airport (YYZ)

The taxi is the fastest option. Waterloo Taxi will drive you to the airport for $110 and from the airport at $130, both including HST, but not including tip. If I’m trying to stand by for an earlier flight to Toronto (Montreal-Toronto or an Air Canada Comfort fare), then I would call them once I’ve boarded the flight to Toronto, and that’s enough lead time for them. You go to the pre-arranged taxi desk at YYZ and they summon your taxi from the pen.
The option I take most often on weekdays is GO to either Square One (bus) or Weston or Bramalea (train) and then MiWay or UP Express or GO 94 to YYZ. The all-GO or GO and Bramalea Transit options are probably the cheapest possible way of getting to/from Pearson at $13. (That is surely cheapest in an absolute sense, including wear and tear on your car.) The Presto Card will work unless you have a GRT connection. The GO bus has started running on weekends now too.

I usually budget about 2 hours. The 25C (express to Square One) is fast if you are going when it is going. I just asked and Google Maps reported a 2h15 trip from the University of Waterloo to Pearson Terminal 1 at 10:30pm on a weekday; the fastest trip I can find is 1h41 from the Kitchener GO station to T1.
I haven’t taken Airways Transit for a while. Their prices used to be finely tuned to be competitive with other options but now they are not.
Flixbus runs between 0 and 3 daily trips from Toronto Union Station to Pearson to Kitchener to the University, priced at $13 and going up closer in with dynamic pricing. Good if they line up with your schedule. A bit tricky if you are flying into Pearson, since flights can be delayed.

Short-turn YYZ

Twice in 2019 I happened to be flying into YYZ on day N and flying back out on day N+1 or N+2. Renting a car can be a cheaper and faster option than public transit and taxis, especially if one has the quick-rental options at YYZ. Of course one still has to drive the car. I paid $36 and $60 all-in for the rental itself in October 2019, plus gas.

Leaving Early: The Last Day of our South Island December 2022 trip

Sat, 31 Dec 2022 00:00:00 +0000

A day in the life. Making and executing last-minute travel plans to get back to Wellington from the South Island.

WLG-NSN

Fri, 12 Mar 2021 00:00:00 +0000

An excellent opportunity to add to the walked-to-airports list! I’d meant to walk to NSN last July, but we actually only flew into that airport after the Heaphy; our flight to the start of the track was replaced by a van ride. Here’s my chance!

Travel options from Waterloo

Thu, 26 Dec 2019 00:00:00 +0000

2019 Travel options to/from Waterloo

A lot has changed from the last time I wrote this in 2008. The options for getting to Toronto and Pearson are much better. I went to BUF a few times a while ago but now there aren’t good Star Alliance options from BUF and they’re not that much cheaper, so I haven’t done it for a while.

Here are various options for carless transportation from Waterloo in 2019.

YOW - downtown Ottawa, December 2019

Thu, 26 Dec 2019 00:00:00 +0000

One of my strange hobbies is walking to or from airports. In the ideal case it is walking between the airport and the place I am sleeping. I flew into YOW in December 2019 and had the opportunity to take a 13km walk.

Complete gallery: https://gallery.patricklam.ca/index.php?/category/1209

Itinerary

From YOW, out on Paul Benoit Driveway past the Ottawa Hunt and Golf Club, to Riverside Dr, meeting the Rideau River at Mooney’s Bay and “civilization” at Billings Bridge, then across the Rideau on Bank through the Glebe and Centretown to Albert St and my destination.

Travel options from Waterloo

Wed, 06 Aug 2008 00:00:00 +0000

Travel options from Waterloo

I’ve tried to figure out various options for carless transportation from Waterloo. Here’s what I’ve discovered.

To Pearson Airport

Airways Transit option 1, door-to-door: 1.5hr, $80 for one direction. You have to wait for everyone to get on and off. They do tend to drive at reasonable highway speed.
Airways Transit option 2, Airporter: 2 hours from the UW Student Life Centre, limited schedules (departs 6am, 10:45am, 1:00pm, 3:30pm; returns 8:15am, 1:30pm, 3:15pm, 6:13pm) and even less on weekends. $46 per direction.
Greyhound to Toronto ($22, 1.5 hours) and Pearson airport express ($20). About the same cost as the Airporter, but more hassle and more schedules available. Cheaper if you have a student card.
Get to Mississauga Square One (works if you can take the FEDS bus) and then take the GO service to the airport ($3.50). Can be extremely cheap, if you can make it work for you, and probably isn’t all that slow either.

To Buffalo Airport

All reasonable options cost about $65.