The Toronto Region Board of Trade has given York Region Transit one of the worst grades for transit service in the GTA with a C-.
The organization released a report last week calling for significant improvement to transit services across the GTA. Of the 11 transit services in the Toronto area graded, York Region Transit ranked 9th, only ahead of Milton and Oakville, which received D- grades.
The top ranked-services included Toronto and Mississauga, which both earned grades of B.
The report said YRT has limited transit coverage on frequent routes, with only 37 per cent of residents being within walking distance of a route that runs every 30 minutes or less. It also criticized the transit service for not having enough routes running 15 minutes or less in off-peak periods, even in places with dedicated infrastructure.
“York Region has very limited transit coverage,” the report said. “The majority of urban York Region residents have only very limited transit service, reducing their access to jobs and employers’ access to talent.”
The report details transit services, including Toronto, Mississauga, Durham Region, Brampton, Hamilton, Waterloo Region, Burlington and Guelph, highlighting the issues each system faces. It identifies several shortcomings in Toronto region transit, coming about due to a “historical lack of resources for transit.”
“Time, investment, and regional collaboration will help us to close many of the current gaps,” the report said.
The report said York Region does have a relatively high on-time performance of 78 per cent. It also ranked the region well on transit integration, and the region's priority level with transit. Specifically, it said the region has invested in infrastructure with the VIVA routes.
York Region manager of service planning transit, operations and services Tamas Hertel said it appreciates the interest of the board in advancing transit services. .
"We continue to enhance services to meet growing demand and changing customer needs, regularly implementing services to attract new riders and improving the allocation of resources," Hertel said. "We strive to balance service frequency with ridership demand with consideration for our revenue to cost ratio."
Hertel added they continue to invest in their frequent transit network, with major investments such as the Yonge North Subway Extension and rapid treansit network coming. Hertel also said that they invest in a mobility on-rquest service for low-demand times of day.
The region also lost points for not having any 24-hour service, which the board of trade said is important to allow shift workers to get to jobs and support the night economy. The board said that for it to give YRT an A, the transit service needs to improve bus frequency and fully integrate fares with the TTC.
“A clear service standard on major routes, such as guaranteeing a trip every 15 minutes, will mean that transit users can count on transit at all times. Frequent all-day service on VIVA routes would be a good start to maximize the value of infrastructure investment,” the report said.
The full report is available on the Toronto Region Board of Trade website.
