1. Overview of Transit in Canada

The start of public ownership of transit systems in Canada varied from city to city, e.g. Edmonton, Calgary, Regina Saskatoon (before 1915); Toronto (1921); Kitchener and Thunder Bay, (1945); Montréal (1951); Hamilton, Winnipeg, Vancouver, Victoria (early 1960's) and Halifax (1970).

Commuting Patterns by Census Metropolitan or Urban Area 1991/92 data

	Of households with at least one person working outside the home, this is the % where one or more workers commute to work by public transit	Public transit's modal share (all trips)	Per capita rates of public transit use (linked trips per year)
Toronto	33	27	186
Montréal	30	34	196
Ottawa	27	21	133
Winnipeg	21		82
Vancouver	18	15	93
Québec	17	18	80
Edmonton	17		69
Calgary	16		68
Halifax	16		61
London	16		54
Victoria	13		66
Hamilton	11		60
Windsor	6
St. Catharines-Niagara	6	5	29
ALL CMAs IN CANADA	15

Sources: Pucher (1994); Statistics Canada (1994) Human Activity and the Environment

2. Commuter Rail in Canada

In the aftermath of the Second World War Toronto was one of the first cities in the world to launch a new grade-separated mass transit system. Built from revenues gained during the war when gas rationing was in effect, the Union Station to Eglington Avenue section of the Yonge subway line opened in 1954. As a result, between 1952 and 1962, over 90% of all office construction and about half of all apartment additions occurred within a five-minute walk of the Yonge Street subway corridor (Cervero, 1986).  Construction on the Bloor-Danforth line was completed in the mid nineteen-sixties, followed by additional expansion in 1980 eastwards to Kennedy Road and westwards to Kipling Avenue. The subway system now includes 59 stations over 97.3 km, with additional expansion eastwards along the new Sheppard line expected to be complete in 2001. Montreal completed the first section of its Metro in 1966, the total system now comprising 65 stations on 3 main lines.

The high cost of heavy rail systems prompted Canadian transit authorities in the nineteen-seventies to explore new, more affordable mass transit technologies. The concept of light rail transit (LRT) was adopted as a catch-all definition and is best characterized as a low-cost, electric-powered system that operates either at-grade in mixed traffic or on a grade-separated right of way. Overhead power delivery is common but not universal and LRT cars are usually smaller than their heavy rail counterparts. Historic streetcar systems such as that operating in central Toronto technically qualify as LRT but are not commonly recognized as such.

Four LRT systems have been built in Canada since 1978 when Edmonton launched their first section to coincide with the summer Commonwealth Games. The single Edmonton line comprises 13.7 km with 10 stations, 6 of which are underground. The right of way configuration more closely resembles heavy rail than other conventional LRT systems. Calgary Transit opened their first 10.9 km south line in 1981 on a fenced right of way parallel to existing freight tracks. Additional northeast and northwest lines were launched in 1985 and 1987 using the central medians of existing roadways. Travel on the C-Train within the downtown core is free but the trains must operate in mixed traffic. The current system now comprises 29.3 km with 20 main stations and 11 downtown platforms. The average number of boarding passengers per day in 1997 was 148,500.

The Scarborough and Vancouver LRT systems are both implementations of advanced light rapid transit (ALRT) technology that was initially marketed as an intermediate-capacity transit system (ICTS). This technology is best characterized as the bottom end of heavy rail transit, since the LRT cars of both systems operate on grade-separated rights of way. The 8 km section of the Scarborough rail train opened in 1985, providing extended rapid transit service northwards from Kennedy station to the Scarborough town centre. The Vancouver Skytrain was opened in conjunction with EXPO 86, a world fair that showcased advanced transportation technology. The Skytrain system now comprises 20 km with 20 stations, of which 16 are elevated.

Commuter rail in the largest Canadian cities has developed in response to extensive urban sprawl. The GO Transit system, managed by the province of Ontario, connects distant suburbs and satellite communities with central Toronto. Currently six main rail lines and several long-distance bus routes converge on Union Station in downtown Toronto. This network is well connected with the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) surface and subway routes, as well as the transit systems of other suburban municipalities. GO Transit also maintains extensive park-and-ride facilities with a total of more than 15,000 parking spaces. Commuter rail service along the popular Lakeshore and Milton lines peaked in the early 1990's when a change in government prompted cutbacks to the existing schedules. GO bus service, however, has expanded to several communities and now supplements train service in off-peak periods.

The commuter train network in Montreal extends towards the west and northwest along 2 lines with a total of 28 stations. This system has been under the management of the Metropolitan Transportation Agency since 1996. The Vancouver regional transit system introduced commuter rail service in 1995. The West Coast Express operates five trains during peak periods between the northeast suburbs and downtown Vancouver. The bi-level Bombardier coaches and GM locomotives are more modern versions of the equipment in use on GO Transit lines.

3. Socio-demographics and Transit Ridership

A 1991 report by Canadian Urban Transit Association, entitled Demographic and Socioeconomic Trends: Implications for Urban Transit in Canada, identifies a number of socio-demographic trends that affect transit ridership. These include the age profile of Canadian society, labour force participation rates, occupational shifts, decentralization of population and employment, and concerns about the environmental consequences of automobiles. While increased employment among women and environmental concerns are supportive of increased transit ridership, the other social trends listed above tend to have the opposite effect.

The age issue is particularly important and sometimes forgotten in discussions on transit issues. A quick look at the age profile of transit patrons in Canada, however, makes it very clear that age is important. Transit use tends to be highest for adolescents and young adults. As Canadian society ages, and as older Canadians are increasingly likely to retain their driver's license, there is a shrinking pool of transit patrons. David Foot (1996), in his book Boom, Bust & Echo, makes this point very clearly when states that "the aging of the baby boom has been a disaster for many of Canada's public transit systems" (Foot, 1996, 134). His argument is encapsulated in the following quotation:

"The 20-year old single person who lives downtown and rides the subway is not morally superior to the 40-year old parent who drivers a car. The young person rides the subway because, living downtown, he doesn't need a car and, being young, he can't afford one. The parent, on the other hand, needs to deliver her son to the hockey rink, her daughter to skating class, and the dog to the vet, and she'll pick up a few bags of groceries on the way back. Whether she lives in the inner city or the suburbs, she can't easily accomplish this trip by public transit. Twenty years in the future, the same young person who today happily zips around town by bike, bus, or subway will be at the wheel of minivan or something similar, hauling kids, dog and groceries. It won't happen because he has changed his views on urban planning. It will happen because he is 20 years older". (Foot, 1996, 129-130).

4. Planning for the Future

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