Abstract Manager

Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic there was a concern in many Canadian cities about stagnating or even declining ridership levels. The pandemic was devasting for transit ridership and revenues, and recovery has continued to be very slow and still well below pre-pandemic levels. This is placing enormous strains on both transit agencies and governments providing operating subsidies to maintain service levels. These fiscal challenges are exacerbated in many municipalities by widespread budget shortfalls, and, often, the failure of senior levels of government to provide adequate support. A serious danger currently exists that at least some transit agencies will fall into a viscous cycle of service cuts and fare increases in the attempt to balance the books, but with each step in the cycle further driving riders away from the system, and thereby making the system’s sustainability ever more tenuous.

This paper serves as a reminder of the primary, essential nature of public transit in our urban areas. It is not a “nice to have”; it is a “must have”. Every major goal of modern society: reducing greenhouse gas emissions, reducing pollution and improving public health, social equity and well-being, economic productivity and competitiveness, and the overall quality of life of our urban areas are fundamentally dependent on maintaining and expanding our public transit systems. Letting them whither and die represents the road to economic, social and environmental unsustainability, which is diametrically opposed to stated goals at all levels of government in Canada.

Using the City of Toronto and the TTC as its case study, this paper presents the quantitative evidence which amply demonstrates these assertions. While using Toronto data, the points made are generally applicable across all transit systems and municipalities nationwide.