With the GTA experiencing strong growth, a study suggests the area around Pearson airport would be a logical place to have a “Union Station West” to help reduce road congestion even if the airport did not exist.

The study, commissioned by the Greater Toronto Airports Authority, suggests a regional transit hub for trains, light rail cars and buses can make the area more competitive.

“We found that commuting times in the region are the highest in Canada,” said Howard Eng, president of the Greater Toronto Airports Authority at a media conference Tuesday.

“Mobility can be significantly improved in the region with better transit. It can help the region be more competitive and more business-friendly, and for the commuters, a shorter commuting time. The west rail Toronto-Hamilton area and specifically Toronto-Pearson is the ideal spot for a regional transport centre. The airport is poised for strong growth in the coming years.”

The first phase of ground transportation centre will be ready by the mid-2020s, Eng said.

Ontario Transportation Minister Steven Del Duca, and local mayors of Toronto, Mississauga, Brampton and Kitchener met Tuesday to look at plans and a new study for the regional transit hub.

The study also showed that nearly twice as many west Greater Toronto-Hamilton area commuters travel across the GTA to North Toronto and York Region than to downtown Toronto. The West GTHA generates more than 4.5 million trips per day, and only seven per cent of these are by public transit.

The proposed transit centre, located on airport lands, would be served by the Eglinton Crosstown LRT, Finch West LRT, Mississauga Bus Rapid Transit, GO Transit rail lines, UP Airport Express and perhaps even high speed rail in the future.

Airport operators say they are open to letting in private investors take a stake in the airport to help fund a multi-billion dollar transit hub. How much this centre would cost wasn’t revealed at the news conference.

“The GTAA is providing the catalyst to actually help us make all of this happen because they are going to bring all these lines together,” Toronto Mayor John Tory said.

While Ottawa looks at privatizing airports, airports and airlines are opposed to the idea, fearing private investment means higher fees for travellers.

Mississauga Mayor Bonnie Crombie, who called the plan “very exciting,” said many options are being considered to manage the hub. To attract possible private sector funds, she said there could be models looked at such as a long-term lease with some aspect of privatization.

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While all of this has to be fully understood and fully analyzed, it could lead to an increase in the cost of transit, she said. But what is being looked at is affordable, accessible, regionally integrated transit and people would pay even if there is a smaller premium to access that, Crombie said.

With files from Bruce Campion-Smith

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