It's time to fix, strengthen, and build public transit to keep Canada moving

Canada is at a fork in the road amid the unfriendly governance of our neighbour to the south. Today (March 23), an election will likely be called to decide who will lead this country through a period of deep economic uncertainty.

As the federal government looks to unify and grow the country, this is an opportune time to pivot Canadian society away from the United States' social, economic and cultural hegemony - beyond just trade policy. One way to do that is a national plan to fund and reform public transit.

Public transit is a lifeline for communities across the country, is essential to a strong economy, protects the environment, and supports job creation. Forward-thinking policy will unshackle Canada from US-borne policies of public disinvestment, artificial scarcity, and car culture that have paved over cities and left marginalized people at the curb. Here are four pieces that are necessary to fix, strengthen, and build public transit to keep Canada moving into a future divergent from the United States.

1. Invest in the day-to-day operation of transit

The single most powerful policy the Federal government could implement to improve mobility is recurring, consistent funding to operate transit.

A 2023 report found that every $1 invested into Toronto's public transit yielded $7.14 in benefits to the public. Furthermore, increasing transit service to 100% of pre-pandemic levels provides $737 million per year in benefits - comprised of the impact to the economy, environment, public health, and time savings delivered to both transit riders and drivers. 

In recent history, Canadian cities have seen more robust growth in transit ridership that have concurred with periods of increased investment in transit service. Between 2006 and 2017, nation-wide ridership increased 1.6% as revenue hours increased 1.96%. This contrasts with most jurisdictions in the United States over the last several decades, where service levels have generally deteriorated amid cuts. 

However, impacts of the pandemic have shaken-up Canadian transit systems and their funding models, shrinking service hours and reversing the positive trend of transit ridership. In Vancouver, TransLink faces a $600 million deficit that threatens 50% of bus service and 30% of SkyTrain service. Today, Vancouver's heavily-used local buses on Hastings, Broadway and Main Street operate 20-30% less service than they did in 2019. In Ottawa, budget cuts from the municipal government slashed off-peak train service in half on the city's busiest LRT line. In 2023, Montréal axed its popular 10-minute bus network that comprised of 31 routes amid a lack of funding.

While emergency one-time funding relief has been provided by the federal and provincial governments to keep transit systems running since 2020, deficits continue to exist and are indicative of a broken funding model. The federal government established the Canada Public Transit Fund in 2024 that provides $3 billion per year towards public transit and active transportation capital projects, but this funding is unavailable for the day-to-day operations of transit where support is sorely needed. Put simply, this fund can be used to buy new buses, repair tracks, or construct bike lockers, but not run transit systems. Significantly increasing the Canada Public Transit Fund and making it flexible for operations would be the key policy change necessary to restore and expand transit service nation-wide. At the same time, investing in transit operations will secure and grow public-sector jobs amid economic uncertainty.

2. Make transit affordable and accessible to all

As Canada enters an era of economic uncertainty with resulting cost-of-living impacts, the cost of mobility needs to be capped to ensure everyone can continue to get to work, school, care, and community.

Local transit fares in the United States and Canada have increased beyond the rate of inflation in most major cities over the last few decades. In Toronto, TTC fares have risen 1.8 times the rate of inflation over the last 30 years. The cost of a monthly transit pass ($156) requires 47 trips to break-even with single-tap fares in a month. Since 2020, the way people use transit have changed, with less consistent commuter trips and more frequent off-peak trips - often making expensive transit passes obsolete. Transit passes have never been equitable - the upfront cost of a transit pass is a barrier to riders who might otherwise benefit from discounted fares. Proven solutions, such as fare capping and discounted/free transit programs, better supports lower income people who rely on transit.

While fare systems are the domain of municipal governments and regional bodies, fare-reliant Canadian transit agencies will inevitably increase fares to support their budget gaps in the absence of federal and provincial transit funding.

A national transit plan should provide funding towards affordable fare integration schemes in urban areas, implement fare capping to better suit changing travel demands, and invest in discounted/free public transit for low-income persons and youth to ensure no one is left at the curb.

Affordable intercity transit matters too.

Affordable national mobility can unify Canada and get more people on trains and buses. Currently, VIA Rail and Amtrak fare prices fluctuate based on demand and proximity to the date of travel, which deters many travellers from using intercity rail over budget airlines. By comparison, a Shinkansen trip from Tokyo to Osaka can be booked today for the same price as a trip happening two months in the future. In Germany, €58 allows a person to ride all intercity, regional, and local public transit in a month (similar to the cost of a one-way train ticket between Toronto and Montreal during busier days). These fare systems remove some financial barriers of using intercity rail (and bus) service and appeals to more flexible and affordable last-minute trips. In conjunction with improved service, these fare structures have increased ridership. Regulating simple, consistent intercity fare rates is a step towards a more affordable, flexible, and fair national fare system.

3. Nationalize rail and invest in a public intercity transit plan

Any plan to unify Canada must include investment into public intercity buses, trains, and ferries to form a resilient, well-connected country. Canada's intercity rail network has shrunk significantly through history. At present, the only corridor with more than a handful of trains per day is the Windsor-Québec corridor; most other services operate far less frequently, and the cross-country Canadian only operates weekly and is unaffordable. Calgary, one of the most populous cities in Canada, does not have any intercity rail service. 

At the same time, there is no nation-wide intercity public bus operator. Intercity bus transit is largely provided by private companies in certain regions, such as Megabus in Ontario and Québec. The reliance on privatized intercity bus service, typically affiliated with US-based corporations, means that many towns and cities only have bus service for as long as it is profitable. In 2021, Greyhound ended all intercity bus service in Canada, leaving many communities without a transit connection to the rest of the country. In Manitoba, riders have regularly suffered freezing temperatures on unheated private buses between Winnipeg and smaller towns and First Nation communities to the north. Many people rely on unsafe private operators to get to Winnipeg for medical care, work, and family.

The anemic state of intercity rail service and the dependence of communities on unaccountable private bus service underscores the importance of a investing in public intercity transit.

To begin with, building high-speed rail in the Toronto-Ottawa-Montreal corridor would serve the most densely populated and economically productive region in the country, cutting travel times between Canada's two largest cities to around 3 hours. Such a large-scale project would provide tens of thousands of jobs and incentivize investment and development in smaller towns and cities along the line.

While shiny high-speed rail proposals are promising and showcases Canada on the world stage, it does not supplant the need for a national rail and bus plan. The backbone of a national public intercity network includes many layers of transit:

• High Speed Rail (in the Toronto-Ottawa-Montreal corridor)

• Fast and frequent regional rail (in major urban areas and between towns and cities)

• Intercity and regional buses (between small rural communities, towns, and cities)

• Regional ferries (in British Columbia, Atlantic Canada)

Much like the US, the private ownership of most rail infrastructure in Canada presents an obstacle to passenger rail expansion. Companies often have a poor record of maintaining their infrastructure; their freight trains also take priority over VIA Rail's passenger services on private track, further eroding the appeal of intercity rail transport. Freight companies also own valuable track in urban areas, preventing world-class frequent regional rail from being fully realized in Canada's largest cities. While Metrolinx has been successful in negotiating more track in the Toronto area, ARTM in the Montréal area has struggled to improve its commuter rail network as the prioritization of freight train movements on private railways restrict off-peak passenger service. Nationalizing rail would purchase critical rail infrastructure, return it as a public asset of Canada, and remove nation-wide barriers to more frequent and expansive rail service.

The importance of a public intercity bus network

An intercity bus network needs to integrate with, and fill the gaps between the rail network. This is critical in areas where there is little existing rail, or where it is difficult to construct new rail. The greatest benefit would occur in the territories, northern Manitoba, northern Ontario, northern BC, and other less populous areas of the country. Here, non-car transportation options between communities (especially indigenous communities) are limited, unsafe, or non-existent. A unified Canada should not continue to leave behind communities outside of major cities and towns, and public transportation plays a key role in addressing the legislated isolation of communities.

4. Reform our approach to building transit

Canada lags behind its peers in the world on public transit. The federal government needs to step up and fund transit expansion across the country, by further increasing the Canada Public Transit Fund and prioritizing high-benefit projects that serve the most people and/or addresses the greatest inequities. Some of the most critical unfunded transit projects in this country include:

• Intercity rail between Calgary and Edmonton

• Sheppard Subway Extension in Toronto

• Québec City Tramway

• North Shore Skytrain link in Vancouver

However, transit cannot be continue to be constructed on a large-scale without tackling the transit costs issue that prevails in Canada and other anglosphere nations. 

For the average price to build one kilometre of new rail rapid transit in Canada, Spain is able to build over four kilometres.

Cost increases have already caused descoping of transit projects as funding is reconsidered. This has resulted in transit projects with fewer material improvements to the lives of transit riders. 

A prime example is the downgrade of Montréal's northeastern metro line into a tram feeder network amid increasing costs and stringent budgets. The Pink Line and REM East was envisioned to serve the densest, most transit-dependent areas of northeast Montréal with rapid transit, relieve Line 1 (Green Line), and expand access to the eastern island suburbs. The latest iteration of the project as a tramway that feeds Line 1 misses many of the dense transit-dependent neighbourhoods previously served and worsens crowding pressures to Line 1. Additionally, it potentially lengthens trips as bus riders that currently have a direct connection between the east island suburbs and the metro would need to make an additional transfer. Descoping of this nature results directly from spiraling transit costs and a reluctance to address the root causes of the cost issue.

Excessive dependence on external consultants, poor procurement processes, poor contingency budgeting practises, and other planning issues within institutions must be addressed to bring down transit-building costs and unlock more transit for every dollar spent. International examples demonstrate that greater public in-house involvement in transit projects, standardized and simpler constructions aligned with best practices, and less concessions to stakeholder groups over aesthetic mitigations are key to delivering high-benefit low-cost transit projects.

A national standard for transit projects can provide a catalogue of design templates based on global best practices and Canadian contexts, allowing for cheaper design and construction costs while aggregating public sector expertise. Dependence on external consultants and private consortiums need to be reduced, with the goal of the public sector drafting 30-70% of design before starting the bidding process (as standard in Paris, Milan, Istanbul, etc). Importantly, the build-up of Canadian public in-house expertise and capacity should not come from the United States, but from areas of proven transit-building expertise. Transit projects in the US regularly over-build, suffer from greater cost increases, and under-deliver on ridership and material benefits. Despite this, procurement similarities between the US and Canada often mean many US-based consulting firms work on Canadian projects.

Ultimately, solving the transit costs issue by developing public capacity and unbinding Canada from US "expertise" and procurement practices is paramount in ensuring that every dollar invested in transit expansion goes further, and delivers higher-quality projects that materially improve peoples' lives.

Concluding thoughts

In times of economic uncertainty, investment into more frequent, reliable, affordable, and effective public transit ensures that people can continue to rely on transit to get to work, school, medical appointments, and connect with community. At the same time, investment into public transit operations and large-scale expansion projects supports tens of thousands of jobs, and spur further investment into communities. World class transit systems support more equitable, competitive, and resilient cities and attract growth and investment. A national transit plan can uplift communities that have been disadvantaged by disinvestment, and unify Canada while making opportunity, community, and care more accessible to all. Transit is already popular across political lines - with 97% deeming it a necessary service, and 65% supporting increased funding from upper levels of government.

While the US government guts investment into public services, degrades the environment, and leaves diverse and marginalized communities behind, it's time for a Canadian federal government that does the exact opposite - leading a caring, sustainable, and resilient country built on well-funded public services and evidence-based policies that leaves no one behind. The development of a bold national transit plan that funds transit operations, makes transit affordable, expands the public intercity network nation-wide, and reforms transit-building is necessary to keep Canada moving forward.

How you can help win federal transit funding:

Consider volunteering or donating to your local transit advocacy groups ahead of the upcoming federal election:

• TTCriders (Toronto)

• TriTAG (Kitchener-Waterloo-Cambridge)

• Ottawa Transit Riders

• Edmonton Transit Riders

• Movement (Vancouver)

• Trajectoire Québec (Montréal, Gatineau, and Québec City)