Latest King St. pilot data shows higher ridership, shorter commutes

Thestar.com
August 15, 2018
Ilya Banares

New data released on the King St. pilot project shows overall ridership was up 11 per cent during May and June.

According to the new numbers released Wednesday, ridership rose by 35 per cent during the morning commute and by 27 per cent during the afternoon rush hour.

New data on the King St. pilot project shows an increase in ridership and shorter commute times.

Travel times have also been reduced by approximately 4 to 5 minutes, according to the city. This is in each direction during the afternoon commute for the slowest streetcar travel time. Average travel time during the midday also improved by 2 minutes.

The data also shows transit has become more reliable in the downtown core, with 85 per cent of streetcars arriving within four minutes during the morning commute.

In what the City says is consistent with expected seasonal changes, the volume of both pedestrians and cyclists increased significantly.

“The King Street Transit Pilot demonstrates that we can move a larger number of people on the City’s busiest surface route, quickly and reliably, while managing the impact on drivers and local businesses,” Mayor John Tory said.

“The City will continue to carefully measure this pilot to make sure that it works for more than 80,000 daily riders of the King Street streetcar and everyone who enjoys this vibrant part of our city.”

The pilot project was launched last fall with the goal of making public transit more efficient. The traffic restrictions imposed prohibit vehicles from travelling straight along King St. through most major intersections between Bathurst and Jarvis Sts.

Drivers in the downtown area have generally been able to find alternative routes, the city says, and the traffic network has “largely been able to absorb and respond to the changes in routing that drivers have made.”

The project has attracted controversy, especially from local business owners such as Al Carbone, owner of Kit Kat restaurant at King and John Sts., who called on Tory back in January to reverse it “immediately.” He said revenue for some establishments dropped by half.

However, according to the release, “Customer spending on King St. since the pilot began has seen a slight growth (0.3 per cent) from the average rate of spending over the same months from the year before.”

The release added: “Generally, the trends in customer spending observed during the first six months of the pilot are in line with trends from the six months before the pilot began.”