The climate crisis and public transit: How York Region's transit system is part of the problem
Credit: Donn Hoyer
Writen by: Daniel Xie
As the Climate crisis continues to heat up, a method of combating the climate crisis discussed in response to the climate crisis is the shift to more sustainable forms of transportation such as incentivizing public transit over driving. The discourse surrounding sustainable public transportation must include a push for affordable and accessible transportation if we are to use transportation as a means of combatting the climate crisis, rather than simply stating that “public transportation reduces the carbon footprint”.
As a resident living in the York Region, I am all too familiar with the unaffordability and inaccessibility of the area with regards to public transportation. As the Greater Toronto Area, which includes the York Region continues to grow and develop, it is necessary that city planners consider policies that would allow transportation to be free and accessible for those of low income, especially if they are to think about planning for more sustainable public transportation.
A major roadblock preventing the creation of a more affordable and accessible York Region is their current transit policies. Following transit hikes implemented on November 17, 2016, the fare of adult transit passes increased from $145 to $154 as of 2019. These transit hikes also increased the price of adult tickets from $3.50 to $3.88, with the price of adult tickets being even more expensive if one simply pays with cash.
These fares are more expensive in contrast to the fares for transportation involving the TTC; while the TTC monthly pass is slated to be more expensive ($156 for TTC vs. $154 for the YR monthly transit pass) following incoming fare increases on March 1st, 2020. The fares for York Region transit, if PRESTO or YRT pay is used, is $3.88 for adult and $3.03 for youth, in contrast to $3.25 for adult and $2.30 for youth on the TTC transit.
According to Goretti Maria Mpaka in her 2016 dissertation Affordability, Transit, and Housing: A case study of Vivanext on Yonge Street in Richmond Hill and Newmarket; which examines the persistence of unaffordable housing and transportation prices in the York Region, many youth in the York Region find it difficult to move around the area. Especially those that do not have a driving license or any access to a car and thus would rely on public transportation more than residents that do not rely on public transportation to get around.
According to various interviewees in Mpaka’s analysis, when discussing their experiences with the York Region’s transit system, they themselves along with their clients have experienced instances of being fined by Viva enforcement officers.This occurred because they couldn’t afford to pay for the fees enforced by Viva, or they did not clearly understand the instructions for paying, which incurred fines from Viva.
The failure of Mpaka’s interviewees to understand instructions demonstrates failure on the part of Viva to provide services and instructions in an accessible manner to those that had received fines for failing to understand the instructions. Lack of affordable transportation is further worsened, according to Mpaka’s contacts, by a lack of wage increases, with residents complaining that monthly passes continue to become unaffordable for them, in part due to wage stagnation on their end being unable to keep up with the rising prices.
As a resident in the York Region myself, moving further away from Toronto and deeper into the York Region has made transportation considerably difficult, especially when transportation fees and the cost of transportation between York Region and Toronto are taken into consideration. Often, I have to take one of the buses that could link up with the TTC at Toronto from Thornhill, whether for my Wednesday French program at Seneca, or for a meeting with the organizations that I am involved in.
As York Region’s fares are more expensive than fares in Toronto, transit from York Region to Toronto has proven to be much more expensive than transit between stations in Toronto. Consequently travelling across the GTA becomes harder than when I lived in Toronto.
More expensive transit is not the only problem facing York Region residents whenever we need to take public transportation, another issue is the general inaccessibility of transit within York Region. In York Region, many residents of low income live far away from places with affordable transit. This is because, as a result of urban sprawl, many residents, particularly those seeking affordable housing, live in sprawled out suburbs that do not have transit access.
As revealed through Mpaka’s interviews with York Region residents, the more affordable housing lie further from major transit stops. By contrast, homes closer to major transit stops tend to be much more expensive. This situation is made worse by the fact that most transit investments do not go into low-income communities, but rather into further expanding transit in expensive neighborhoods. Consequently, the lack of access to transit remains unresolved.
Apart from lack of accessibility for low-income residents, transit in the suburbs is further made difficult by the long wait time in suburban areas between transit, with some stops not only needing up to an hour for transit to arrive, but also not providing any transit during the weekends. I myself live near the transit stop of 23 Thornhill Woods and Rutherford rd, which is a 10 minute walk from my home. The 23 bus, which I sometimes rely on to get to Finch station or to the North Thornhill Community Centre to exercise, takes from 45 minutes to an hour to arrive after each interval, especially after the morning.
This makes it very hard for me to get where I want using the 23 bus, and it would no doubt also make it hard for residents that can’t drive or walk for 45 minutes to utilise the Community Centre or visit the library there, as well as for high school students attending the nearby Stephen Lewis Secondary School. Long periods between transportation also results in a long wait time during the winter, which opens up the risk of frostbite and other cold weather related environmental hazards for residents waiting for transit during the winter.
The Schedule for 23 Thornhill Woods, Northbound and Southbound
Lack of affordable transportation negatively impacts any efforts to transition into sustainable transit systems, along with efforts to create accessible neighborhoods for the majority of the population. An unaffordable and inaccessible transit plan makes it hard for those who cannot afford to buy a car to get where they want, as well as discouraging people who already drive from taking transit instead; because to them, transit would be both expensive and inconvenient. Consequently, any effort to transition into more environmentally sustainable forms of transportation would be hindered, as the percentage of the population that chooses to drive would be discouraged from taking more sustainable alternatives such as public transportation.
So what could be done about York Region’s transportation problem? First, transit systems should not be built around or invested around the most unaffordable neighborhoods, but be built around low-income neighborhoods that are cut off from most transit planning going around now. In addition, transit prices, if they cannot be made fully free within the near future, should be reduced significantly below their current costs to allow low income neighborhoods to have as much affordable transit access as possible.
Efforts should be made to ensure everyone understands specific instructions regarding how to pay for transit systems such as Viva so that incidents where people are fined for not understanding viva would be reduced. Lastly, rather than have residents wait for 45 mins to an hour for suburban transportation to arrive outside of high-density hours (ie: mornings and rush hours), public transportation should be just as frequent as they are in suburban areas as they are on major intersections and roads. In order to shift public opinion to be more favorable to public transportation as a means to ensure environmental sustainability, the public has to be warmed up to transit as an alternative to driving, and by making transit more frequent, accessible and affordable, city planners for the York Region might be able to do just that.
More Articles