Embrace new transit technology or else, U of T study says
A new report urges southern-Ontario cities to partner with Uber and other "shared mobility" services to improve transit

TheStar.com
Aug. 19, 2016
Jesse Winter

Transit planners across the Toronto and Hamilton region can either embrace new and disruptive technology like Uber, or resign themselves to a future of endless gridlock compounded by striking taxi drivers and a gutted public transit system that hardly anyone uses, according to a new report by the University of Toronto’s Mowat Centre.

“That’s a pretty decent takeaway from the report,” said co-author Sara Ditta with a laugh.

While that dystopian vision comes from the report’s somewhat stylized worst-case-scenario description, Ditta said the themes underpinning it are serious and pressing.

“The fact is that shared mobility is here,” Ditta said. “It has and will continue to change how people travel, and policy makers need to take steps to address that.”

“Shared mobility” is the term Ditta and her colleagues use to describe the current shift away from personal ownership of things like bikes and cars toward shared use of those resources though apps such as Uber and Lyft, publicly-owned bike share programs and other innovations of the so-called “sharing economy.”

The report, commissioned by Metrolinx and released Friday, argues that rather than restrict — or worse, ignore — these new technologies, cities across the Toronto and Hamilton region should seek ways to incorporate them into future transit plans.

“One of the findings is that working towards developing an integrated system involves a certain level of partnership,” with companies like ride-hailing service Uber or car-sharing services like Zipcar, Ditta said.

That may seem like radical thinking considering the ongoing tensions — particularly in the taxi industry — over Toronto’s new licensing of Uber drivers. But Ditta and her colleagues say more such careful and considered regulation is needed in municipalities across the region.

The goal isn’t to replace traditional transit options like taxis or public transit, but to allow new companies to help fill gaps in the existing system, the report says.

One of those gaps is what the report calls the “first mile/last mile” dilemma. The theory holds that public transit excels at moving people most of the way from to their destinations, but ignores how people enter and leave the system.

“We’re trying to evolve past the perception that our customers materialize at our stations and then vanish at the other end,” said Antoine Belaieff, Metrolinx’s director of regional planning.

One of the report’s recommendations is to integrate shared mobility services into the transit portfolio, allowing people to, for example, take a bike share or Uber from home to the nearest bus stop or subway station and ideally pay for it all in one place with the Presto card system.

“The ultimate vision is to view Presto as the tool to access not only public transit, but the whole system,” Belaieff said.

Both Belaieff and Ditta agreed that the speed with which the shared mobility world is evolving means that governments and policy-makers need to respond quickly as well.

The report describes what can happen if governments adopt a wait-and-see approach. One example is the hypothetical expansion of UberPOOL — the company’s new microtransit service — into TTC territory. Seeking to capitalize on gaps in TTC service, UberPOOL or others could start targeting routes traditionally served by streetcars and buses. But if that isn’t co-ordinated with the city, it could result in more congestion in those areas, which in turn could drive TTC ridership down, sparking a downward spiral toward a crippled public transport system and roads clogged with private cars.

If, however, regional municipalities work with companies like Uber to ensure its services compliment rather than compete with public transit, things could run more smoothly than they do right now, the report says.