To get to Billy Bishop airport by car, drive to the foot of Bathurst Street and continue onto Eireann Quay to the mainland terminal at number 2. Drop-offs are momentary: the curb is active loading only and turning-circle spaces allow five minutes. To leave a car, use the airport's official paid parking, or skip the problem with a chauffeured car to Billy Bishop.
How to get to Billy Bishop airport by car: the basics
If you are wondering how to get to Billy Bishop airport by car, the destination to put in your map is 2 Eireann Quay, Toronto, the mainland pavilion and ferry terminal at the south end of Bathurst Street. Cars do not normally drive to the island terminal; the road ends at the water, and passengers cross on foot through the tunnel or on the short ferry. That changes how you plan the drive: the real questions are how to approach through downtown, where you are allowed to stop, and where to leave a car if you are not simply being dropped off. Our Billy Bishop airport guide describes the terminal; this post is written for whoever is behind the wheel.
Approaching from each direction
- From the west (QEW, Mississauga, Oakville, Pearson via the 427): take the Gardiner Expressway east, leave it for Lake Shore Boulevard West approaching downtown, and turn south at Bathurst Street.
- From the east (DVP, Scarborough, the Beaches): take the Gardiner west, exit to Lake Shore Boulevard West, and turn south at Bathurst.
- From the north (North York, midtown): Bathurst Street runs all the way south to the lake; follow it past Front Street and Lake Shore Boulevard to Queens Quay and on to Eireann Quay.
- From downtown hotels: head west on Front or Lake Shore, or south on Spadina to Queens Quay, then west to Bathurst.
Check Ontario 511 for Gardiner closures, which are common on weekends during maintenance seasons.
Drive times by starting point
| From | Typical route | Off-peak | Weekday peak |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pearson (YYZ) | 427 south, Gardiner east, Lake Shore, Bathurst | 30–40 min | 60 min or more |
| Downtown Financial District | Front or Lake Shore west, Bathurst south | 10–15 min | 20–30 min |
| North York | Bathurst south, or Allen Road and city streets | 25–40 min | 45–60 min |
| Mississauga city centre | 403 or QEW to the Gardiner | 25–40 min | 45–70 min |
| Oakville | QEW to the Gardiner | 35–50 min | 60–80 min |
These are dispatch planning estimates. Events and weather change them more than distance does.
The last 300 metres: Eireann Quay
Eireann Quay is short, narrow and shared. Taxis, app cars, hotel vehicles, private drivers, cyclists heading for the Martin Goodman Trail and pedestrians from the streetcar stop all converge on it. The airport's pick-up and drop-off rules are simple: you may stop momentarily along the curb outside the mainland pavilion and ferry terminal, the curbside is a no-parking zone reserved for active loading and unloading, and complimentary spaces in the turning circle are limited to five minutes. Treat it like a busy hotel entrance: pull in, unload, say goodbye inside the car, and drive away.
Dropping someone off without stress
- Have bags ready to come out of the trunk before you arrive; do the packing check at home.
- Let the passenger check in online, so they can go straight to the tunnel.
- Use the turning circle if there is space; otherwise stop briefly at the curb.
- Unload and leave within a minute or two; do not wait to wave.
- If you miss the stop, loop back up Bathurst rather than stopping in a live lane.
At busy times, especially early mornings when several flights leave close together, curb space is at a premium, and enforcement is real.
Picking someone up: the hardest part
Picking up is harder than dropping off, because you cannot wait at the curb and there is no dedicated cell-phone lot mentioned by the airport. The practical options are to time your arrival to the passenger's message that they are crossing, to park in the paid lot and meet them inside the pavilion, or to send a car that is built for this. Our chauffeurs track the flight, wait nearby rather than on the curb, and pull up when the passenger is coming out of the tunnel or off the ferry; with meet and greet (planning figure $25–35), the chauffeur parks and waits inside with a name board.
Parking at Billy Bishop
The airport directs drivers to its official parking operator, Stolport, which publishes parking and online booking on its parking site. Rates and lot availability are not listed on the airport's own page, so check and book before you travel, especially for multi-day trips and long weekends. Parking at a small downtown airport is limited and not cheap, which is one reason many local travellers are dropped off, take the shuttle or use a car service instead. If you are only meeting a flight, short-term paid parking is the only legal way to wait more than five minutes.
Taking your car across on the ferry
You can take a vehicle across to the island on the airport ferry. The airport's ferry page lists a vehicle fare of $15 for a return trip, with the ferry running about every 15 minutes from roughly 5:15 a.m. to just after midnight; pedestrians ride free. Island parking fees apply on top. In practice this is uncommon for passengers and mainly useful in particular circumstances, such as some island parking arrangements or service vehicles. For most travellers, the mainland is where the car stops.
Driving yourself vs being driven
| Option | What you pay | What you deal with |
|---|---|---|
| Drive and park | Fuel plus paid parking for every day away | Downtown traffic, finding the lot, the walk to the pavilion |
| Friend or family drop-off | Their time, and fuel both ways | Five-minute curb rule; pickups are awkward |
| Taxi or app car | Meter or app price | Availability early and late; no child seats in most cases |
| Booked chauffeured car | Fixed fare quoted by address | Nothing: bags, curb and timing handled |
For a two-night trip from North York, parking plus fuel can easily exceed a fixed-fare car each way. For a day trip from Liberty Village, driving yourself rarely makes sense at all.
Event days and rush hour
The streets around Eireann Quay are among the most event-affected in the city. Blue Jays games at the Rogers Centre, soccer and football at BMO Field, the CNE at Exhibition Place in late August, concerts and Harbourfront festivals all load Lake Shore Boulevard, Bathurst Street and Queens Quay. Weekday rush hours, roughly 7:30–9:30 a.m. and 4–6:30 p.m., slow the Gardiner in both directions. Before a US departure, when preclearance adds time on the island, give yourself an extra 20 minutes on any of these days. Our chauffeurs add buffer automatically to departure pickups that fall in these windows.
Winter driving to the waterfront
Snow squalls off Lake Ontario, slush on Lake Shore Boulevard and early darkness in December make the waterfront approach slower than the map suggests. Fog can also affect turboprop flights, so check the flight status before you leave and again before you reach Eireann Quay; the federal weather site has the forecast. If you are dropping someone for an early flight after a storm, allow for unplowed side streets. Our cars run winter tires from late fall, and dispatch moves departure pickups earlier when warnings are posted.
Children, seats and the drop-off
If you are driving your own family, your car seats come with you and stay in the car. If you are being dropped by a relative, make sure the right seats are in their car too. If you are booking a car, add child seats at booking: we fit a proper seat for every child who needs one, and the chauffeur installs them before arriving. Ontario's car seat guidance explains which seat suits which age and weight. At the curb, unload the children first and the bags second, because the five-minute limit applies to families as well.
Meeting a guest: a better plan than circling
Circling the block while a guest's flight is delayed is the classic Billy Bishop mistake: Bathurst and Queens Quay are slow, the curb has a five-minute limit and there is nowhere legal to idle. Instead, check the live arrival on the airline's app before leaving home, aim to arrive about 15 minutes after the actual landing for a domestic carry-on passenger, and agree that the guest will text as they enter the tunnel. If the flight is from the United States or the guest has a checked bag, add 20–30 minutes. If you would rather not do any of this, a chauffeur can meet them instead: add meet and greet and a name board waits inside the mainland pavilion, while the car is parked legally nearby.
Luggage, sports gear and oversized items
A car is at its most useful when the load is awkward. Golf bags, skis, bike boxes and musical instruments are all carried on Porter and Air Canada flights under their own rules, and they are unpleasant to wheel along Queens Quay or lift onto a bus. If you are driving yourself, you can unload them at the curb within the five-minute window and carry them into the pavilion; the tunnel's elevators and moving walkways help. If you are booking a car, list every item so the right vehicle arrives: an executive SUV or luxury van holds six people and six bags, with room for a golf bag or two.
When the airport has a construction notice
Waterfront construction, utility work and event closures occasionally change the approach to Eireann Quay or the pickup layout. The airport operator, PortsToronto, and the airport's own site post notices about access and works, and they are worth a glance before a trip. If the usual approach is closed, follow the posted detour signs rather than your map app, which may not know about temporary lane changes. Our dispatchers track these notices and brief chauffeurs, so a closure affects your timing, not your stress level.
Book a car and skip the parking question
For many trips, the simplest answer to driving to Billy Bishop is not to drive. Enter your address and Billy Bishop in the reservation engine with your flight number, choose the vehicle by bags, and see the all-in fare before you confirm. From Pearson, the planning figure is $145–175 in a business sedan, before HST. For how the service works at both ends, see Billy Bishop airport transfer; for timing between the airports, see Pearson to Billy Bishop; and for every non-driving option, read how do I get to Billy Bishop airport.
