Toronto’s Transit: Building for the Future
Don Valley North Town Hall
8 July 2019 Outline
1. Who We Are 2. What our transit looks like today 3. How to decide what goes where 4. Don Valley North 5. What does this all mean? Who we are. Who is CodeRedTO?
Who we are: Who we work with: • All volunteer • Non-partisan • No conflicts of interest
What we do: • Research transit fares, networks, budgets, proposals, vehicles, … • Advocate for better transit • Educate politicians and public
We are not being paid to be here. Transit isn’t optional. Annual per-capita residential GHG emissions from all transportation
6.86-9.77 tonnes
Annual per-capita residential GHG emissions from transit alone
0.10 tonnes
Source: A Spatial Analysis of Residential Greenhouse Gas Emissions in the Toronto Census Metropolitan Area, University of Toronto Source: sensibletransport.org.au Transit is an economic driver
According to the American Public Transit Association:
• each $1 invested in public transportation projects generates $4 in local economic activity
• for every $1 billion invested, 30,000 jobs are created
Source: www.apta.com Population Growth in the City of Toronto July 2017 – June 2018
Toronto 77,435
Phoenix 25,288
San Antonio 20,824
Forth Worth 19,552
Seattle 15,354
Charlotte 13,151
Los Angeles 8,454
Boston 6,307
Chicago -7,073
New York -39,523 Source: www.ryerson.ca Source: City of Portland, NACTO Toronto 1970 Toronto 2019 Public Transit Commuter Mode Share
Toronto CMA 24.3%
Montreal 22.3%
Vancouver 20.4%
Washington, D.C. 14.4%
Boston 13.6%
Chicago 12.0%
Los Angeles 5.1% City of Toronto: 37%+ Houston 2.2%
Source: Statistics Canada Subsidy per Transit Rider Per-rider representation of the total subsidy from all sources $4.75 $4.56
$4.12 USA (2016, US$) TTC (2017$) Canada (2015$) GTHA (2015$) $3.74 $3.37 $3.08 $2.73
$2.37 $2.29 $2.30
$1.86 $1.90 $1.96 $1.90 $1.75 $1.69
$1.16 $0.90
Source: TTC Different modes for different purposes (Our 2021 transit fleet) Standard bus: 10 metres, 51+* riders Articulated bus: 15 m, 77+ riders Old streetcar: 15 m, 74+ riders Low-floor streetcar: 30 m, 108+ riders TTC Line 3 (SRT): 50 m, 220+ riders
Eglinton Crosstown: ~92 m, 490+ riders
TTC Line 4 (Sheppard): 100 m, 720+ riders
TTC Line 2 (BloorDan): 150 m, 1000+ riders
TTC Line 1 (YongeUni): 150 m, 1080+ riders
* “Crush *loads” “Crush ofloads” greater of greater numbers numbers are regularlyare regularly seen seen on on all all vehicles. vehicles. Waterloo now; Eglinton in about two years
Similar to the TTC’s new streetcars, but larger, and in 2- or 3-car trains, for up to 490 riders Cities are expanding their rail transit options. The shape matters more than the technology.
Downtown buses and streetcars: slower, but you can walk a few stops easily. 12-17 km/h (including stop time) – 501 Queen streetcar, 29 Dufferin bus, 85 Sheppard bus
Downtown subways & future LRT: medium speeds, and reasonable walk times. 22-26 km/h (including stop time) – Yonge & Bloor subways downtown, Eglinton Crosstown on surface
Suburban subways: faster, but you need a bus too; it’s too far to walk for some. 30+ km/h (including stop time) – Line 1 to York U, Line 4 Sheppard subways, Eglinton Crosstown tunnel
Regional trains: fastest, but you may need a car if there’s no local transit nearby. 50+ km/h (including stop time) – GO Trains, GO buses How to decide what goes where? What is “good transit”?
• A reasonable choice •Frequent •Reliable •Accessible •Goes where you need it to •Affordable What are good transit decisions?
Source: humantransit.org Approximate Daily Ridership
All TTC buses combined 1,000,000+ riders
Line 1 - Yonge University 795,000 riders
Line 2 - Bloor Danforth 528,000 riders
All TTC streetcars 270,000 riders
All GO Trains 210,000 riders
Gardiner (west of Jarvis) 200,000 cars / 222,000 people
TTC Relief Line SOUTH 178,000 riders (projected 5+ years ago)
Eglinton Crosstown 162,000 riders (projected 5+ years ago)
Gardiner (east of Jarvis) 120,000 cars / 133,200 people
504 King Streetcar 84,000 riders
All GO Buses 50,000 riders
Line 4 - Sheppard 50,000 riders
Line 3 - SRT 35,000 riders Other factors to consider
Budgets Equity
Short-term/ Local/ Long-term Regional Why don’t we make good decisions?
“The Iron Law” of megaprojects:
1) go over time 2) go over budget 3) fail to deliver the promised benefits Good process
Facts
Transparency
Realism Don Valley North is unique. Don Valley North A 15 minute walk from the subway isn’t much.
Victoria Park & Sheppard (no rapid transit yet!) With no new transit options, you can’t get very far, and it’s getting more crowded every day. What does this all mean? More transit is necessary for the city to thrive Not just any transit – GOOD transit
Accessible
Affordable Connected
Reliable Frequent We want to spend money wisely.
Tunneled Subway (~ $370 million)
Surface Light Rail (~ $100 million)
Separate Bus Lane (~ $3 million)
Separate Bike Lane (~ $1 million) Our landscape is changing, and we need to adapt. The public has a right to participate There are tough, complex decisions, that need public oversight, and local input.
Now it’s your turn. What questions do you have?