People naturally think of downtown Toronto or even North York city centre when they think about where the jobs are.

But a report from the Neptis Foundation, a non-profit, non-partisan research group, released Thursday, shows that one of the fastest growing employment zones is the area surrounding Pearson airport – which geographically is six times bigger than the downtown core.

RELATED: Neptis report on Airport Megazone

Jobs include those who are directly employed at the airport to affiliated jobs in warehousing and transportation, as well as manufacturing and construction.

Surprisingly, there are more than 60,000 jobs just in finance and business services in the area. Some of the big employers include Pratt & Whitney, Hewlett Packard, Bell, Rogers and BlackBerry.

Known as the airport megazone, with an estimated 297,990 jobs in 2011, up 22,550 from 2001, it is second only to Toronto’s downtown zone with 464,650 jobs in 2011.

But unlike downtown, due to its location, most people drive their own vehicles to get to work.

On a typical weekday, about 268,000 trips are headed for this zone, of which 94 per cent are by automobile. That translates into about 500,000 trips to and from the airport zone – but when passengers headed to the airport are included, the report estimates that it is more than a 1 million car trips a day.

“It’s not unexpected, but it is a huge number,” said Pamela Blais, author of Unlocking the Potential of the Airport Megazone, noting the area is not recognized in either the provincial growth or transportation plans, though both are under review.

“This is a perfect opportunity to say this is an important place in the region and address it,” said Blais. “A lot of the planning is focused on other areas where jobs are projected to go, but not necessarily in existence right now.”

“The province is spending $16 billion on transit over a 10-year period,” said Blais. “In my view, it’s extremely important that you get the most out of your transit investments.”

Part of the poor transit service is due to different jurisdictions, given the zone encompasses the cities of Toronto, Brampton, Mississauga, the region of Peel, as well as the Greater Toronto Airports Authority, which manages Pearson airport.

That means someone taking a bus from the 905 to the 416 might have to pay two fares to cross different jurisdictions. Or people might turn down a job in the airport zone because they don’t want the commuting hassles.

More people are coming from the west or south, but most transit connections are coming from Toronto in the east. The new Union Pearson express train from downtown, known as UPX, serves passengers and those who work at the airport, but doesn’t help those who work nearby.

“For a region grappling with congestion and a province committed to greenhouse gas reduction targets, the question of travel to and from the airport megazone cannot be ignored,” said the report that is being released Thursday at the City Age conference.

But it noted that the area has much redevelopment potential on undeveloped lots as well as surface parking lots. Strategic redevelopment could bring the necessary densities to make higher levels of transit viable, the report said.

“It was shocking to see the 1 million car trips going in and out of the airport zone,” said Dianne Zimmerman, policy director of the Pembina Institute, an environmental advocacy group.

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“It identifies that no one is taking a close look at this major employment zone,” she said, noting any redevelopment must be tied to transit planning, to get to the needed density.

“We need to move away from parking lots, and using those parking lots as transit corridors to increase density (through redevelopment), which then draws the argument for getting transit into the community,” she said.

Eileen Waechter, the GTAA’s director of airport planning and investment, welcomed the Neptis Foundation’s report, saying it identified how important the zone is for the economy and jobs – and the need to deal with traffic congestion.

Waechter noted the Airport Corporate Centre on Eglinton Ave. has introduced private shuttles as a way to get workers to and from the subway station.

There are many ways to bridge the gap, she said, noting there will be need for all types of transit including “last mile,” right down to walking and cycling.

Waechter said the airport has set a target of having 25 to 30 per cent of trips to the airport to come via transit, and is looking at creating a transportation hub near the airport.

Top industries in Airport Megazone

Manufacturing, construction, utilities: 78,560 jobs

Warehousing and transportation: 87,690 jobs

Finance and business services: 60,335 jobs

Voluntary and government: 9,320 jobs