On February $11,2016,$ the Union Pearson Express $($UPX$)$ was in the news again. The UPX, which had been in operation for eight months, provided a rail link between Union Station in downtown Toronto and Toronto Pearson International Airport in Mississauga. Though initial response had been positive, the train was running at less than $10$ per cent of its capacity and at $50$ per cent of its target of $5,000$ passengers a day. The consensus among key stakeholders, government officials, and the public was that pricing was the cause of the UPX's woes. These stakeholders had made clear their preference for lower prices, but to date, UPX management, including UPX president Kathy Haley, had resisted and kept the price steady, having tried to boost ridership in other ways. At current ridership levels, only $35$ per cent of the CA

$$70$

million

$2$

annual operating cost of the project was being covered.

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This did not even include any of the

$$456$

million capital cost of building the rail line.

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Since its inception, the UPX had been positioned as a high$-$price, high$-$value service separate from other public transit options. A one$-$way fare had been priced at

$$27\mathrm{.}50$

at launch, and there was a great deal of concern that moving the price lower would undermine the desired positioning. At the same time, ridership was low, and there was reason to believe that lower fares would bring more riders. Current and potential UPX customers bristled at what they saw as overly high prices.

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Haley had been placed in charge of marketing for the UPX, and much of the responsibility for its perceived failure was on her shoulders. "Ridership numbers are not where we want them to be$,"$ said Steven Del Duca, Ontario's transportation minister. Haley said she had not realized "how deeply entrenched air travellers' behaviours were" but conceded that price also affected demand.

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There was media speculation that she would be removed from her position regardless of what pricing decision she made. Even so$,$ as long as she remained president of the UPX, it was her responsibility to make marketing and pricing decisions to maximize revenue. TRANSIT IN TORONTO The Greater Toronto Area $($GTA$)$ was home to almost $6$ million people living in both the City of Toronto and its satellite cities and towns.

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As of $2015,$ the population of the City of Toronto $(2\mathrm{.}8$ million people$)$