TTC unveils strategy to grow transit ridership

Proposals include partnering with ride-hailing services and replicating the King pilot project, but advocates question whether it's enough to reverse three years of stalled growth.

Thesetar.com
Jan. 21, 2018
By Ben Spurr

After three years of stalled ridership growth, the TTC has unveiled a plan to attract more passengers to public transit.

The document, released last week ahead of a special meeting of the transit agency's board on Thursday, proposes a mix of measures big and small that could be implemented over the next five years to both increase the number of trips existing customers take, and to draw new users to the TTC.

The roughly 20 proposals include partnering with services like Uber to provide "micro-transit" as part of TTC trips, emulating the King St. pilot project by giving buses and streetcars priority on key surface routes, and launching public relations campaigns in different languages to reflect the city's population.

"The initiatives in the (growth strategy) will enable the TTC to continue providing a high quality public transit service to its diverse customers in an increasingly competitive environment with multiple travel alternatives," the report states.

Despite Toronto's growing population, TTC ridership has been frozen since 2014, with annual trips hovering around 535 million. The agency believes the driving factors behind the stagnation are mostly issues outside of its control, including slower-than-anticipated employment growth, and the rise of Uber and similar companies.

The last time the transit agency launched a growth plan was in 2003, when ridership was on the decline. The strategy has been credited with helping spur a decade of annual ridership increases, but some are skeptical this edition will have the same effect.

"It didn't dazzle us," said Shelagh Pizey-Allen, executive director of TTCriders, a non-profit transit advocacy group.

She argued that the best way to attract people to public transit is simple: add more service, and do it immediately.

"Transit riders need better service across the city and reduced overcrowding, funded as soon as possible," she said.

Most of the proposals have no estimated cost attached, and could require more study before they're enacted. Many were initiatives the TTC was already working on, including adding Wi-Fi service to subway tunnels, and allowing people to pay their fares by tapping credit cards on Presto readers.

The transit agency estimates that taken together, more modest proposals will boost ridership by about 1 per cent.

Major projects like activating automatic train control on Line 1 (Bloor-Danforth) and the opening of the Eglinton Crosstown LRT in 2021 and Finch West LRT in 2022, could have the combined effect of a five-per-cent increase.

Only two of the initiatives are being proposed for funding through this year's budget process: timed transfers and relieving overcrowding on some bus lines

The previously announced timed transfer policy would allow Presto card users an unlimited number of trips within a two-hour window, and if implemented by August would cost $11.1 million this year. By 2020 it would cost $20.9 million and attract 5 million additional trips annually.

The TTC is also proposing to relieve overcrowding on buses during 25 rush hour service periods, and on four of the most crowded routes during off-peak times.

The agency could add service on the bus routes in the fall, costing $1 million this year. To maintain the same service levels after that would cost $4 million annually.

Councillor Joe Mihevc, who sits on the TTC board, argued that ensuring no bus routes are overcrowded shouldn't be something that's up for debate.

It would cost $12.5 million a year to add enough service to ensure all bus routes meet the agency crowding standards, and Mihevc said that council should agree to fund that immediately.

"Addressing overcrowding is not a ridership growth issue," said Mihevc (Ward 21 St. Paul's).

The councillor described the 21-page growth strategy as "thin" but noted that the TTC still plans to do consultations and report back in the spring with more details on the proposals. He said he hoped the subsequent report would be more "visionary."

"This is the appetizer. I'm looking forward to the meat and potatoes," he said.

In a written statement, Mayor John Tory reiterated his support for some aspects of the plan.

"Growing the transit system is one of my top priorities," he said. "A cornerstone of the ridership growth strategy is the introduction of time-based transfers, an initiative that I requested with TTC Chair Josh Colle and Councillor Mary Fragedakis in November. I look forward to supporting time-based transfers during the 2018 budget debate."

Council will vote on the 2018 TTC budget next month.