What transit in the GTA needs to keep up with the population

Like most immigrants to Canada, when Srikeit Tadepalli first came to Toronto from Mumbai, India, in February, he had a laundry list of things to do to get settled: get his social security number and permanent residency, apply for OHIP , look for a job and a place to live, and to get to know the city.

When Tadepalli arrived in Toronto without a car in the middle of winter, he was grateful for Toronto’s well-connected and accessible transportation system. But especially in the beginning, he had a hard time navigating it.

“For such a developed public transport system, there is very little communication aimed at newcomers on how to get around the city using public transport,” said Tadepalli. “Basic things like: What is a PRESTO card? Where do I get a PRESTO card? … Even to this day I sometimes struggle with it.

Tadepalli is just one of hundreds of thousands of immigrants coming to Canada each year, a number that continues to grow, with the federal government last year pledging to welcome an additional 1.5 million people by 2025. If the trend continues, most of these people will settle in Toronto and surrounding communities, where immigrants already make up about half of the population.

For all its challenges, Toronto’s transportation system is among the best in the world, with several major projects underway that promise to make the GTA even more connected. Still, new immigrants and transportation experts say the city can do more to help newcomers get around, from minor tweaks, such as better communications aimed at newcomers, to expanding public transportation with a focus on the suburbs. Also critical to supporting a growing population is strengthening the TTC’s finances, with current shortcomings threatening the transportation system’s ability to operate with adequate service and maintain a good state of repair.

Tadepalli said basic instructional videos aimed at newcomers on how to use the TTC would have gone a long way when he first arrived. During his first few days in the city, Tadepalli said he boarded the tram assuming he could pay his fare on board, only to be told to return with the exact amount or a loaded PRESTO card. Ultimately, he relied on independent YouTubers to guide him.

The TTC is always looking to improve, spokesman Stuart Green said in a statement, adding that the transit company is creating an “enhanced signage strategy” to make navigating the system easier. On maps and signage, the TTC uses words, symbols, colors and numbers to assist all customers, Green added. The TTC’s website also has a Google translate feature that can translate to over 100 languages.

Transportation is one of the most critical aspects of Canada’s infrastructure for newcomers. It serves as a gateway to economic participation, getting people to school or work, gives immigrants access to important services such as health care and language classes, and allows people to travel to enjoy different aspects of city life.

People in Canada’s most populous city are already finding it harder than ever to get around, especially in a downtown crippled by construction. Toronto’s traffic congestion is among the worst in the world. According to city data, car travel is taking almost as long as it did before the pandemic, even with fewer vehicles on the road.

Meanwhile, this year the city shut down TTC service and increased fares to make up for lagging passenger numbers on the transit system, which faces a $366 million operating deficit this year. Unless the state and federal governments act, the TTC will not have enough money to run the system at its current level or to replace aging trains and buses.

When newcomers first come to Canada, they are more likely to rely on public transport, cycling and walking than settled immigrants and Canadian-born people, says Valerie Preston, a professor of urban social geography at York University. That means expanding and investing in the TTC and regional transit, as well as building walkable mixed-use neighborhoods, will be essential to support more immigration.

“If half a million people arrive every year, and we’re also trying to meet our climate targets, then those people should be able to live in places where they can either use public transportation, and it’s efficient to use transportation, or they can walk to and from work,” Preston said.

It’s not all bad. Toronto is starting to invest in public transportation after decades of neglect. The 15.5-kilometer Ontario Line subway, when completed in about ten years, will run from Exhibition Place to the Ontario Science Center through the heart of downtown, bringing an additional 227,500 people within walking distance of public transportation, according to Metrolinx, the provincial agency that oversees the projects.

While locals are quick to complain about the TTC, which can be unreliable and crowded, many who come here marvel at the efficiency of the system.

“The connection, from buses to GO trains, to trams, everything is very, I would say, flawless,” said Akbar Siddiqui, who came to the city from Mumbai a month ago and lives in Etobicoke with his wife. “I come from a country where the transport network is a bit flawed. There are many delays. Everything is very busy, especially because in India, back in Mumbai, there are a lot of people in a relatively small area.”

Still, Toronto isn’t where it needs to be to relocate a growing population, said Steve Munro, a longtime transit watcher and blogger.

“We have to stop assuming that building a few subway lines will solve our transportation problems.” As the city becomes more populated and inner-city living becomes less affordable, people are pushed further and further away from the city, meaning transportation demand becomes diffuse, Munro said.

In 2021, the far suburbs (30 minutes or more from the center) of Canada’s three largest cities — Toronto, Vancouver and Montreal — grew faster than the urban fringes or suburbs closer to the core, according to StatCan.

Newly elected mayor Olivia Chow has pledged to invest in public transit and active transportation, including reversing recent TTC cuts and building a dedicated bus lane in Scarborough. But the TTC is facing a significant cash crisis that can’t be solved at the city level alone. The TTC relies on the farebox to fund about two-thirds of its operating costs, and ridership is currently only 74 percent of what it was pre-pandemic. On top of this year’s $366 million shortfall, the transportation company expects a “workload” of as much as $600 million next year, according to a recent CEO report to the city council.

The TTC is also short of funds to maintain and invest in capital. The TTC recently canceled a Request for Proposals for new subways because it was not getting the funding it needed from the state and federal governments. The trains it had intended to replace are currently between 24 and 27 years old, with an intended lifespan of 30 years.

“The combined operating and capital investments required to maintain the level and quality of transportation service required to support Canada’s largest city cannot be sustained solely by the spending cuts or revenue streams currently available to the TTC” , warned the recent CEO report. Ottawa announced in April it would deposit $349 to help the TTC buy more electric buses, but not any new money to help run them.

“We really need to think about how we can move hundreds of thousands more people with the same amount of road space,” said Steve Farber, a transportation geographer and spatial analyst at the University of Toronto. Farber and Munro agree that the best way to accommodate a growing population in the short term is to invest in the city’s bus network and prioritize these buses so that more people can get around more efficiently.

“We need to think about making transit more attractive to a much wider range of potential trips,” Farber said. “So in the short term, buses must run faster and more frequently everywhere. I think that will move the needle quite a bit.

Tadepalli said that despite its shortcomings, the TTC has been a lifeline for him since he arrived in the city, and that continuing to invest in it will be crucial for future immigrants to thrive.

“Without affordable, accessible, and clear transit information, many immigrants tend to stay out of the city and stay at home.”

Lex Harvey is a Toronto-based transportation reporter for the Star. Follow her on Twitter: @lexharvs

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