Routes and ruts?
The future of public transit in Canada's mid-sized urban places
Wes Andreas, M.Sc. Candidate
Supervisor: Clarence Woudsma (University of Waterloo, School of Planning)
Email: wjandrea@ucalgary.ca
Web: www.ucalgary.ca/~wjandrea/msctransit
Phone: 220-5587
Discussions in recent years of new urban infrastructure funding and the Kyoto Protocol to
the UN Convention on Climate Change have renewed Canada’s interest in enhancing the
role of public transit as part of a sustainable urban growth strategy. The push to improve
transit has historically focused on larger urban centres; however, a challenge remains to
improve the quality and quantity of service in Canada’s small and mid-sized cities. Midsized cities, defined as places with between 50,000 and 500,000 people, represent
approximately 30 percent of the Canadian population. These cities share many of the
same issues as larger places with regards to upper-level government funding constraints,
transportation and environmental problems, and aging infrastructure. However, they lack
certain economies of scale. Additionally, their predominantly auto-oriented urban
structures, poorly performing city core areas, and absence of centrality can lead to limited
'choice' transit ridership and outdated route networks relative to contemporary travel
patterns.
Following a review of the existing literature on Canadian transit, mid-sized cities, and
transit effectiveness indicators, this research project examines the current status and
future potential of public transit in Canadian mid-sized cities. A series of service,
sustainability, market demand, and financial performance indicators were developed.
Multivariate analysis of operational, financial, and socio-economic data from 40 such
cities revealed approximately eight groupings of similar mid-sized transit systems. The
empirical groupings make sense along economic, spatial, and regional lines.
Subsequently, a case study was identified from each group to examine the transit systems
in more detail, and with particular focus on user ("layperson") and operator ("expert")
opinion of current and future services and system operation. Weeklong field visits to each
city to conduct interviews with transit staff and interview-surveys of customers are being
used to solicit opinion on current services, and desired and anticipated changes.
An empirical examination of the past and present context of each case study system will
be combined with the lay and expert judgements to develop preliminary indications of
where each case study system could make future changes. It is hoped that such
improvements might make transit a more viable option vis-à-vis the automobile in midsized cities, and help transit to be better positioned to contribute to broader sustainability
goals such as the management of urban growth or decline and environmental protection.