better transit no · we need bold transit priority initiatives on busy routes across the city to...

better transit now

An alternative Ridership growth [email protected] | www.ttcriders.ca ttcriders.ca/bettertransitnow

July 2019

Transit subsidy comparison of major North America cities (CodeRedTO)1

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IntroductionPublic transit connects us to jobs, education, services and our communities. Getting more people to choose transit reduces traffic congestion and greenhouse gas emissions. Despite Toronto’s growing population, there are fewer people riding the TTC because transit riders face overcrowding, long wait times and rising fares.

The TTC recognizes the importance of attracting new riders but does not have the proper resources to take action.

This document, Better Transit Now, is TTCriders’ “alternative ridership growth strategy.” It proposes four paths for increasing ridership and points to equitable ways to raise the revenue needed to pay for them.

These solutions have been around for decades, but have not been implemented due to the chronic underfunding of the TTC by all levels of government. The TTC is the least-subsidized major transit system in Canada and the US.

Fully AccessibleGood Service

Affordable for All Rapid Transit City Wide

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Transportation contributes 38% of Toronto’s greenhouse gas emissions, 80% of which is from passenger vehicles2. For every person that takes a trip on transit instead of by car approximately 1kg of CO2 emissions will not be emitted into the atmosphere.

The GHG reduction is estimated for each strategy to show why transit investment is essential to curb climate change3. If all the strategies in this booklet are implemented, the city could achieve a savings of 57,781 tons of CO2 emissions per year, the equivalent of 13,532 homes’ energy use4 or the amount absorbed by 2.4 million trees5 per year.

Climate Change Impact

About TTCRidersTTCriders is a public transit advocacy group that gives transit riders a voice. We are transit users with a vision for an affordable, accessible world-class public transit system.

Get involved at: ttcriders.ca.

“I’m tired of this Keele bus. It’s ridiculous. I’ve waited up to an hour for this stupid bus and then two come together, overcrowded. I’m sick and tired. What am I paying TTC for? Please, we need better service!”

-Tamika C., 41 Keele Rider

Good ServiceGood transit service is fast and reliable. To make the switch to ride public transit, people must be confident that the TTC will get them where they need to go on time. Currently, delays, overcrowding and unreliable service are a common experience for riders. The first three months of 2019 saw 41 bus routes and eight streetcar routes operating above the TTC’s crowding standard at some point during weekday service, with the 29 “Sufferin” Dufferin bus topping the list6.

Graphic demonstrating Keele bus bunching at intersection of Keele St. at Lawrence Ave. Northbound stop. Data obtained from TTC real-time GPS, sampled on November 7, 2017 from an analysis by Nate Wessel, University of Toronto.

SCHEDULED REAL-TIME

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PRIORITIZING BUSES & STREETCARS ON OUR ROADS

70% of TTC trips include taking a bus or streetcar. Despite their ability to move more people, buses and streetcars are regularly stuck behind car traffic. This leads to poor service reliability and slow trips. We need bold transit priority initiatives on busy routes across the city to improve existing service. Transit priority measures such as dedicated bus lanes and signal priority are efficient ways to boost ridership.

For only $3 million, transit priority measures implemented as part of the “King Street Pilot” led to massive growth of 3.67 million new rides per year.7

Success Story

Strategies

Transit priority on all streetcar routes8

Transit priority on 20 busiest bus routes9

12.35 million

14,757 tons

Ridership growth potential (annual)

Climate Benefit (CO2 Emissions Saved)

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Vancouver’s transit agency has a 10-Year Vision that includes a 25% increase in bus service and 12 new express routes11. After just one year of investment they saw a bus ridership increase of 8%12, while the TTC’s bus ridership saw a 1%13 bump over the same period.

Success Story

The TTC’s bus fleet has barely increased over the past decade and, even with a new garage opening in 2020, there isn’t space for the number of buses we need to operate more frequent service. The TTC will not be able to purchase more buses after 2021 due to lack of government investment (TTC).15

THE TTC’S CAPACITY PROBLEM

MORE FREQUENT SERVICE

Bus service levels have barely improved over the last 10 years and some routes have less frequent service, including extremely busy corridors like Lawrence East, Sheppard East and Dufferin10. More service across the network is required to make public transit a viable option that is also comfortable and convenient.

Strategies

25% increase in service & 10-minute or better service on all routes14

10.73 million

11,244 tons


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FULLY ACCESSIBLEAccessible transit means that every passenger can ride the TTC with dignity and respect. This goes beyond physical infrastructure and includes an environment that feels safe and comfortable, is harassment-free and supports rider agency.

Accessibility must be a key priority in the design of and service on our transit network. This includes, but is not limited to, proper wayfinding and communication methods, proper treatment of riders, accessible fare media, the dignity to choose between conventional and Wheel-Trans services and safe access to transit.

Erin Nekervis on Flickr

“When I go anywhere in the city, three things have to happen first:

1. Map out my route - careful to highlight any washrooms, barriers and elevators; 2. Contact the person I’m meeting; 3. Ask myself “What if I can’t make it?”

In this day and age I shouldn’t have to go through these steps, but as any person in a chair knows - you’re essentially on your own.”

- Franklyn McFadden, TTCriders member who uses a wheelchair and a combination of conventional and Wheel Trans service.

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AFFORDABLE FOR ALLAffordable transit means that the cost of taking it is within everyone’s means, regardless of income-level, employment status or location. The cost of transit impacts ridership, as every 10% increase in fares means more than 5 million fewer TTC rides16.

LOWER FARES

People are paying $506 more per year to take transit than they were in 2009. Existing discounts are not deep enough for people earning low or fixed incomes. An average family of four with two minimum wage earners spends 20 to 35% of their after-tax, after-rent income on transit17.

The increasing cost of fares compared to the rate of inflation since 200918 19

We must significantly reduce the cost of transit fares to make this vital public service affordable for everyone.

“Even with the discounted Fair Pass, I can barely afford to take transit.” - Cathy Line, a 57-year-old Scarborough resident who relies on the Fair Pass to pay for TTC Wheel-Trans trips.

Strategies

Cost of monthly pass lowered to 37.5 trip break-even20

10% reduction to all single fares21

$50 pass, $1 fare for low income earners. Free for social assistance recipients..22

6.27 million

6,574 tons



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“The removal of direct GO and 905 services to York University without proper fare integration means that I have to pay 30% more to get to campus. More of my time and my money are being wasted.” - Rawan Abdelbaki, student, York University

FAIR FARE INTEGRATION

A lack of fare integration agreements between the TTC and its neighbouring transit agencies actively discourages people from taking transit because it forces them to pay two or more fares for a single trip. Within Toronto, faster trips on GO and the Union-Pearson Express (UPX) are out of reach for many people.

Map of cross-boundary trip cost

Equitable fare integration is needed to lower the cost of multi-agency trips. This should be done without a pay-by-speed or pay-by-distance model that raises fares for everyone else.

Strategies

905-to-TTC 2-hour transfers23

Single fare within 416 (GO, UPX, TTC)24

1.99 million

2,083 tons



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“How much longer do Scarborough transit riders have to suffer three hour daily commutes? Twenty years? Thirty years? For the same amount of money as a three-stop subway we could build a fifty-stop LRT network that helps 1 in 6 Scarborough residents get to where they’re going faster.” - Jamaal Myers, Scarborough resident and member of Scarborough Transit Action

Rapid TRansit city-wideAll corners of the city deserve rapid public transit service that benefits communities by supporting decent work, a fair local economy and deeply affordable housing that will not displace the people currently living there.

The TTC needs an integrated network of subways, light rail, and busways to provide fast and reliable transit and to address the mobility needs of Toronto’s growing population.

Transit must be publicly owned, operated and maintained to provide the greatest benefit for riders. Public-private partnerships (P3’s) cost more and are less accountable to the public.25

In 2003, the TTC identified 22 corridors for rapid transit development29. To date, only five projects have been fully funded.

Strategies

Eglinton East LRT26

Sheppard East LRT27

Relief Line28

17.5 million

23,124 tons



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EQUITABLE REVENUE TOOLSA strong public transit system requires stable and predictable funding. This list of revenue tools is not intended to be prescriptive and it’s just a start. TTCriders supports smart, diverse and balanced revenue streams that are socially just, promote environmental sustainability, are financially effective and keep assets publicly owned and maintained.

In 2018, the TTC operating subsidy was $1.14 per ride, with riders paying most of the remaining cost37. The province currently contributes about $185 million per year to the TTC. Of that total, $91.6 million is used for operations, which equals 15% of the TTC’s operating subsidy, or $0.18 per ride38. The rest is used for critical maintenance and accessibility upgrades.TTCriders is calling for a higher operating subsidy of $2.60 per TTC ride, with the province paying 50%.

Example Tools

Vehicle Registration Tax

Parking Levy

Ridesharing Fee

Gas Tax

Corporate Income Tax

Personal Income Tax

Formula based on car value, mileage, number of drivers/dependents

Rebates for low-income earners

-

Rebates for low-income earners

Only apply to big corporations

Only apply to high income earners

$60 per vehicle/year

For every $0.50 per spot / day

For every $0.50 per ride + $5 airport charge

For every 2 cents

For every 0.5%

For every 1%

$55 million30

$171 million31

$30 million32 33

$185 million34

$145 million35

$580 million36

Example Equity Measures

Basis of Estimate

Annual Revenue

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ttcriders.ca/bettertransitnow

Read the full strategy and references at:

Authors: Adam Cohoon, Alex Gatien, Anna Dewey, Anna Lermer, Benjamin Wert, Brenda Thompson, Eli Aaron, Franklyn McFadden, Iain Campbell, Jin Su Joo, Kevin Rupasinghe, Shelagh Pizey-Allen, Yared Mehzenta, and Vincent Puhakka. Designed by Aaron Millard, with support

from Iain Campbell. Thank you to Cameron MacLeod, Gideon Forman, Scott Leon and Shannon Holness for your contribution and support. We appreciate the financial support provided by The Atmospheric Fund for this project, as well as technical support with the GHG quantification.This work is licensed under aCreative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike4.0 International License. Feel free to share or adapt this

work for non-commercial purposes.

take action for better transit1. Share the strategy with a friend.

2. Call, tweet or write to your City Councillor and MPP and ask them to fairly fund the TTC.

3. Add your name for better transit now at ttcriders.ca/bettertransitnow

4. Become a member of TTCriders at ttcriders.ca

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