(Photo courtesy of Hitachi Rail)
To encourage more people to take transit, and to avoid the road congestion that costs the region $44.7 billion annually, more than 70 per cent of Torontonians would most like to see shorter journeys on public transit prioritised, says a recent global transportation survey commissioned by Hitachi Rail.
Toronto is still a city dominated by car travel, with 70 per cent of people commuting by car, compared to 33 per cent in Paris and 41 per cent in London. Prioritizing shorter journeys topped the wish list of those surveyed, followed closely by “avoiding crowding,” cited by 69 per cent, “reliability,” selected by 65 per cent of those surveyed, and “affordability,” which was listed by 57 per cent as reasons that would see them use transit more often.
The findings are from an international report into attitudes toward transportation from Hitachi Rail, which has a large presence in Toronto. The company has more than 1,200 employees working on major projects, like the Ontario Line, and delivering urban rail resignalling projects across Canada, and in major cities around the world.
The global research was conducted by independent polling agency Savanta, which collected the opinions of a representative sample of 1,026 Toronto residents who used all modes of transportation. Worldwide, more than 11,000 people were interviewed in seven global cities: London, Washington, Paris, Dubai, Copenhagen, Berlin and Toronto.
The focus on shorter journeys has been a consistent theme for Toronto transit users, coming up in the top spot for three years in a row, the data shows.
“Toronto resident expectations for transit continue to grow, and providing shorter journeys is top of their wish list. They want transit to offer faster more convenient ways to cross the city as an alternative to driving,” said Arnaud Besse, chief operating officer of Urban Rail Signalling at Hitachi Rail. “It falls on us as leaders in the rail industry to offer the advanced technology and deliver the important projects that can make journeys faster and make transit more appealing.”
A range of factors impact the length of journeys on subways and rail within cities. Core components of any transit systems are the capability, reliability and speed of the trains, signalling and infrastructure, while service frequency, the time it takes for passengers to board at stations and other operational factors all have an impact.
While transit and congestion are hot topics in the city, Hitachi Rail says there is good news on the way for time-sensitive Toronto residents as there is an unprecedented level of investment underway across the region that will cut journey times and, says the company, make transit a logical choice.
The largest new project is the new Ontario Line, which will cut the length of transit journeys across the city from 70 minutes to 30. Hitachi Rail says modern signalling technology will also allow trains to pass through stations every 90 seconds during rush hours.
In the shorter-term, the Finch LRT line and Hurontario LRT line, and the regional GO Expansion, are also expected to cut transit journey times, increase travel options and connections, and improve reliability across the region. Upgrades to the TTC subway system, with the use of new signalling technology, will also allow for faster journeys, more services and greater reliability, plus the ability to reach more destinations via transit.
Hitachi Rail’s survey also found that there is support for better funding for public transit. Those polled in Toronto were slightly more in favour of using a better-connected system more, even if it cost more, although the majority of respondents still use a car to commute to work or study.