Transport - Key Issues

Canadian transit systems share the public concern with environmental issues and the increasing traffic congestion in Canada's urban centres. They already play a significant role in resolving these issues, but believe that transit can significantly increase its contribution to the improvement of urban life. For these reasons, they decided to undertake a project aimed at identifying the short and long term strategies required by all levels of government to improve the market share of public transit in urban centres. The study was undertaken on behalf of the transit operators by the Canadian Urban Transit Association (CUTA) to which virtually all transit systems belong.

The object of this study is to examine the Delta urban transportation market more closely, in order to determine what improvements to public transit service, land use patterns and other factors, together with the support of governments, business and individuals, would be most likely to improve transits modal share. The resulting strategies will form the basis for the 10 year action plan. systems will have a way to face the challenges ahead, including specific goals and objectives to meet, which will enable them to influence other organizations to take important roles in the growth of transit. 

1.1 THE ROLE OF TRANSIT
Public transit in Canada is an essential component of our urban transportation system. Transit plays an important role in serving peak period travel demands associated with travel to work and school also provides basic mobility for those persons who do not have an alternative, including transit dependent students, lower income workers, seniors and other persons who cannot afford or choose not to own an automobile. While many commuters choose to use transit for peak period trips downtown, the transit dependent population accounts for the majority of off peak transit use in Canadian urban areas.

ENVIRONMENTAL BENEFITS

The overall environmental benefits cover a wide range including:

- reduced C02 and ground ozone emissions; reduced auto congestion;

- a slow-down in urban sprawl and consumption of arable land;

- energy conservation; and

- reduction in land servicing costs.

Some of these factors are not readily quantifiable, and all will vary by. Benefits, however, can be recognized in the urban environment. For example, a street fire of auto congestion in the downtown of a large urban centre would improve the local air quality many fold and be easily noticed by people on the street.

WHY THE STUDY IS NEEDED

The Environment And Transportation

Concerns about the environmental effects of automobile use are reaching unprecedented levels, and governments around the world are giving attention to this problem as never before,. Our whole wayof life is adversely affected by dependence on the automobile as a primary mode of transportation in urban areas. Automobiles are an increasingly large source of air pollution, a fact Canadians are concerned about. They also consume a much greater amount of energy per person moved than other modes, they demand much more infrastructure support than other modes, and they contribute to urban sprawl which in turn leads to serious reductions in arable land (see The Environmental Benefits of Urban Transit, CUTA, 1990). The urban forms that develop to serve the automobile are in most cases at the same time hostile to pedestrians and bicyclists. This fact, combined with the common problem of urban traffic congestion reduces the mobility of some groups of the population.

In cities elsewhere, in which automobile congestion and resulting emissions have already reached unacceptable levels, measures to restrict auto access to the builtup areas have been in use for sometime. For example, since 1975 Singapore has charged a fee for every vehicle entering the city centre, with the exception of buses, commercial trucks and cars carrying four or more people. In Tokyo, where vehicle registration fees are in the order of $1000 per year, one cannot even purchase a car without proof of a paid long-term parking space. In other locations, such as Mexico City, the ground-level pollution effects of cars are so severe that outright automobile prohibition is now being actively considered.

These extreme measures are now gaining acceptance in European cities as well, as the general environmental awareness of the public is forcing governments to take actions to reduce pollution from autos. For example, an increasing number of countries have or are considering a carbon tax on auto fuel use to attack production of pollution directly. In a similar vein, the German government links annual vehicle registration fees to the levels of pollution emission.

Such measures may well become necessary in many Canadian cities if prompt action is not taken by all levels of government to promote voluntary alternatives to the single occupant automobile, particularly for peak period commuting. A goal for Canada-wide reduction of the concentration of ground level ozone (smog) below the threshold of health effects in the most susceptible segments of the population. Provincial governments in turn are promoting the need for pro-environmental goals. A recent joint study by the Ontario Ministries of the Environment, Energy and Transportation examined ways of reducing C02 emissions by up to 20%. Another example is the Province of Ontario's recently introduced tax on new vehicle purchases, incorporating a sliding scale based on the vehicle's fuel consumption rate. At the municipal level, public resistance to further road building in built-up areas is getting support from government

Socio-Demographic Trends

The recent CUTA report Demographic and Socioeconomic Trends:

Implications for Urban Transit in Canada (Phase II Final Report, September 1991) identified a number of trends in Canadian society which are likely to affect transit use in the future. Relevant trends include the aging of the dominant baby-boom generation and related increases in affluence and expectations, increased female labour force participation, shifts in occupation from clerical and factory work, and decentralization of population and employment. 

In summary, the CUTA Demographic and Socioeconomic Trends Study suggests that while increased employment among women and concerns about the environment are supportive of increased transit ridership (at least in the short term), the other social trends identified will tend to reduce transit s share of urban travel. If transit systems do not respond to the changing needs of urban travel markets, ridership and modal share will be lost.

 Technological Trends

The auto industry is responding to the increasing regulations for environmental protection by producing more fuel-efficient and pollution-reduced vehicles. This trend is mainly in response to the tough emissions standards set in the State of California, but public interest in fuel economy also supports such work. Although the best auto still does not compete even closely with a loaded bus in terms of energy use or emissions per passenger, the personal comfort and level of service associated with private auto use is often an overriding factor in the public's choice of a mode of transport.

Despite the improvements in automobile technology, total emissions by autos have continued to rise in Canada due to increasing auto use. The advent of electric cars on a wide scale is not likely in the foreseeable future. If they do become available, they will simply shift the environmental problem to energy production and its associated environmental impacts.

Overall, publicly funded transportation modes are going to have to do more with less money, suggesting that new means of financing capital and operational expenses will be needed. With favourable government support however, transit may gain the means to improve service and become more competitive with the auto in cities. 

The Need to Do Things Differently

Transit Must Be Pro-active

All the evidence available indicates that if nothing is done to assist transit, ridership and transit modal share will decline, to the detriment of the urban society in general. In order to change this trend, the transit industry must act now to retain current ridership and also make gains in certain market segments with existing high automobile use.

Transit Cannot Do the Job Alone

It is clear that the task of retaining current riders and gaining market share in market segments in which transit is poorly represented cannot be addressed adequately at the local municipal level alone. If it could, the problem would not exist The problems facing transit in markets such as suburb to suburb commuters involve issues such as land use planning, parking policy and tax legislation which span all levels of government, all of which are, beyond the realm of transit systems. What is needed is a cooperative effort among a number of public and private interestgroups (depending on the particular market segment being addressed) focussed on increasing transit's share of the transportation market.

Potential Benefits Go Far Beyond The Transit Industry

Why should other organizations get involved in supporting transit use? There are many reasons, depending on the organization in question. For the general public, increased transit use means reduced pollution and traffic congestion. It also means more efficient use of tax dollars, as spending on transit services produces greater returns for the community, and more service per dollar than spending on roads in general can attain. For business, this means a more efficient society, as the dependency on energy and material intensive private auto use is reduced in favour of transit. For developers, increased use of transit means better land utilization as less space is required for parking lots, and increased density developments can be supported by the more efficient mode of moving people in and out of the site.

For local governments, traffic congestion can be greatly reduced by increased use of transit, with the valuable side-effect of reduced maintenance and capital costs of supporting the growing auto mode. In addition, the increased density development made possible by transit is more efficient for utilities to service, and leaves more room for green space, reducing the problem of urban sprawl. For provincial and federal governments, increased transit use will reduce the need to borrow for public sector investments, while contributing to important environmental and social objectives.