Dr. Matthew Palm was interviewed by CP24 about preliminary results from the “Public Transit and COVID-19 Survey,” based on a sample of 2,753 survey respondents.
In the video interview and article posted May 12, 2020, “About 25 per cent of former TTC riders say they won’t take transit before COVID-19 vaccine is ready: survey,” Palm discusses a variety of current attitudes to public transit in Toronto.
For example, the article states that 82% of respondents would like to see passenger limits enforced and 72% said they would be more comfortable if riders were forced to wear masks.
Palm also frames the survey results through a social justice lens, saying:
For one segment of the population, the TTC is something they want to avoid for their safety, but I think for another segment of riders, it indicates that being able to stop riding the TTC is very much a privilege right now. – Matt Palm
Toronto mayor John Tory was also interviewed about the survey results. He says that work is in progress to ensure the safety of TTC riders and the service level they need.
Access the PDF of “Preliminary Results from the Public Transit and COVID-19 Survey” version 1 dated May 11, 2020, by Dr. Matthew Palm (Human Geography, University of Toronto Scarborough), Jeff Allen (Geography and Planning, University of Toronto), Prof. Michael Widener (Geography and Planning, University of Toronto), Yixue Zhang (Geography and Planning, University of Toronto), Prof. Steven Farber (Human Geography, University of Toronto Scarborough) and Nicholas Howell (Institute of Health Policy, Management, and Operations, University of Toronto).
Contact: Dr. Matthew Palm matthew.palm@utoronto.ca.
This research was also reported in “A quarter of ex-transit riders won’t take the TTC again without COVID-19 vaccine, study says,” Toronto Star, May 11, 2020, and in “The future of cities: The end of the rat race will reshape Canada’s urban centres,” BNN Bloomberg, December 16, 2020.