Porter's island airport is a different kind of trip — shorter flight list, smaller planes, and a destination in the middle of Toronto's waterfront rather than its northwest corner. From Pickering the run is a flat $115 city-wide, HST included, and it solves the problem that makes YTZ awkward from Durham: there is no sane transit chain, and downtown parking rates punish anyone who drives themselves.
The route leaves Pickering on the 401 west like a Pearson trip, but splits south at the Don Valley Parkway, riding it down to the Gardiner and along to the foot of Bathurst Street. The driver drops you at the mainland pavilion, where both crossings to the island leave from the same spot: the travellator tunnel walks you under the channel in about six minutes, and the ferry — the shortest scheduled ferry run in the world, ninety seconds dock to dock — leaves every fifteen minutes. Either way you're at the terminal with time banked; allow 45 minutes to an hour of driving depending on the DVP's mood.
Coming home, YTZ arrivals are simpler than Pearson's — one exit, one pavilion. The driver meets the ferry side of the crossing, takes Lake Shore to the DVP, and rides the 401 east back to Pickering. Porter's evening schedule lands late enough that most return runs happen after dark, which suits an operation that never closes anyway.
Waypoints on this run
- Don Valley Parkway
- Gardiner Expressway
- Bathurst Quay pavilion
- Billy Bishop ferry
- Highway 401
Asked about this route
What does the Pickering to Billy Bishop run cost?
$115 flat from any Pickering address, HST included, in either direction. It's a single city-wide rate because the downtown leg dominates the trip regardless of which neighbourhood you start from. Tolls don't apply on the standard DVP routing; the 407 is irrelevant for this trip.
Tunnel or ferry once I'm dropped off?
Whichever is boarding. The travellator tunnel runs continuously and takes about six minutes to walk; the ferry crosses in ninety seconds and leaves roughly every fifteen minutes. Both depart from the same pavilion at the foot of Bathurst Street where the driver drops you, so check the boards and take the first mover.
How early should I leave Pickering for a YTZ flight?
Ninety minutes before boarding is comfortable: 45 to 60 minutes of driving depending on DVP traffic, the tunnel or ferry crossing, and Billy Bishop's mercifully short security lines. Porter recommends arriving an hour before departure; morning rush on the DVP southbound is the one variable worth padding for.
Other runs worth knowing
Bayfront Pickering to Pearson Airport (YYZ)
Liverpool Road ends at the lake, and that's where this route begins — the streets around Frenchman's Bay, the Nautical Village strip, Bay Ridges, and West Shore, all booking the Pearson run at a flat $95 with HST inside. The bay end of town wakes up earlier than most of Pickering: a lot of these pickups happen while the masts in the marina are still lit.
Read this route → 40-55 minutesPearson Airport to Pickering — the ride home
This page runs backwards on purpose, because half of all airport travel is the part where you land. From the moment your flight number shows wheels-down at YYZ, a sequence starts that ends in your own driveway: the driver, already staged near the terminal, texts you a meeting point — a numbered column in Terminal 1's ground-level pickup area, one floor below Arrivals, or a lettered door directly outside Terminal 3's hall. You collect bags at whatever pace customs allows; the waiting is part of the fare, not a meter running.
Read this route → 42-55 minutesSeaton & North Pickering to Pearson (YYZ)
Seaton is the newest neighbourhood in Durham — streets fresh enough that mapping apps lag a phase behind the construction. Drivers who work north Pickering keep up the old-fashioned way, by driving it weekly, so a house number off Taunton Road or Burkholder Drive finds its car even when the GPS shrugs. The trip books at the same $95 flat as the rest of urban Pickering, HST in, both directions — Seaton's extra minutes to the highway don't cost you extra dollars.
Read this route →