UTTRI associated faculty Professor Steven Farber is quoted in The Varsity article “Student unions call for emergency TTC funding as revenue halves under COVID-19,” August 2, 2020.
According to The Varsity, the Undergraduates of Canadian Research-Intensive Universities (UCRU), a coalition of student union groups, has called for emergency funding to the TTC so that service levels can be increased this fall. Increases in student ridership are expected due to enrollment in courses with an in-person component.
Referring to the StudentMoveTO initiative — a research project studying postsecondary commuting across several universities including U of T — Farber noted that most students across all three campuses rely on public transit.
According to the project’s 2015 study of 15,266 postsecondary students in Toronto, 51 per cent of UTSG students, 64 per cent of UTSC students, and 66 per cent of UTM students rely on public transit for their commute. Farber said that he expects the statistics to remain similar today.
Farber said that around one third of UTSG students may have no other option than to take public transit if they enrol in courses with an in-person component. He noted that the figures are likely higher for UTSC and UTM students due to less walking or biking options.
Link to the full article article “Student unions call for emergency TTC funding as revenue halves under COVID-19,” The Varsity, August 2, 2020.