Toronto Star
Fewer routes for more riders: Mississauga's transit dilemma
Like other GTA municipalities, budget constraints make it crucial to attract users while cutting costs
October 17, 2008
TESS KALINOWSKI
TRANSPORTATION REPORTER
As they stare down unprecedented budget challenges, Toronto-area municipalities are facing another delicate balancing act.
It is the ongoing problem of coaxing more suburbanites onto public transit while maintaining the vast, winding networks of less-travelled bus routes that serve existing riders.
Mississauga councillors, awaiting the transit revolution promised by the $50 billion, 25-year Metrolinx plan, faced exactly that conundrum this week.
At a budget meeting, they considered cutting seven routes – including one so little used the city is currently subsidizing it at the rate of $18.18 per trip.
Meanwhile, to entice new riders, the city's general committee approved a discount-matching plan to subsidize discounted transit passes offered by employers. Workplaces that offer 25 per cent or more off the cost of transit passes for employees would get an extra 15 per cent from the city, so their workers could enjoy a deep discount of up to 40 per cent off bus fare.
The program could cost the city up to $215,000 but raise Mississauga transit revenues by $300,000, Smart Commute Mississauga executive director Glenn Gumulka said.
The 18-month pilot is similar to one in Winnipeg, where transit ridership among participating employers grew 45 per cent. Employer discount programs in Hamilton, York Region and Brampton have been limited to city and public employees.
The Mississauga program would be offered to about 30,000 workers through 19 employers, including some private companies that pay $1,500 to $8,000 annually to belong to the Smart Commute association.
Smart Commute's overall mission is to remove the barriers that keep transit ridership at only about 9 per cent among Mississauga workers.
The cost of transit will be a growing consideration, since the committee also agreed to a 25-cent hike on cash fares in January. The second increase in 11 months, it would bring the cash fare to $3 – 25 cents more than a ride on the TTC. "For the amount of money we pay for our service, we only get 20 per cent of the TTC service," said Mississauga transit advocate David Fisher.
At their Wednesday budget meeting, councillors also took aim at eliminating seven undersubscribed bus routes and reducing midday and late-night service on others.
The plan is supposed to save $563,800, money that could be reinvested in the employer discount and better service and comfort on oversubscribed routes, such as the Hurontario bus that regularly leaves passengers on the curb because of overcrowding.
In a transit system that recovers only 55 per cent of its operating costs from the fare box, the routes slated for elimination carry 125 passengers a day or less and require subsidies that work out to between $4.13 and $18.18 per ride. Transit officials say most of the people who ride the endangered buses, on routes 15B, 37, 43, 74, 25, 63 and 37A, could take different routes. A decision is pending more study.
Ensuring that every neighbourhood has access to a bus while also enhancing busy services to draw new riders is a tricky juggling act, admits Mississauga Transit general manager Geoff Marinoff.
"It's a challenge driven by density. You need a certain amount of density to support transit. You also have to be able to get people where they want to go quicker," he said.
Among the routes slated to die are two shuttles that were recently introduced to move commuter traffic to high-demand destinations.
That they haven't worked is counter-intuitive, admitted Councillor Frank Dale (Ward 4), who pushed to reintroduce the City Centre shuttle last December after an earlier experiment failed.
But the service simply hasn't been able to compete with the convenience and speed of car travel, when the destinations – a GO station and the Square One shopping centre and nearby offices – offer free parking, Marinoff said.
Still, research shows there's a latent demand for transit. A survey of 3,000 Mississauga employees found 25 per cent would be more willing to use transit if tickets were available in their workplace.
