Transit Equity in the Face of the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Study of Six Ontario Transit Authorities

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has created severe challenges for public transit systems. Ridership has dropped dramatically and remains below pre-pandemic levels for three main reasons: public fears regarding the safety of public transit, the number of people now working from home, and the increased use of alternative means of transportation. Those most reliant on public transportation have been most negatively affected by cuts to public transit made in response to the pandemic.This paper examines the pandemic’s impact on six Ontario transit systems. Using qualitative data from interviews of public transit officials and municipal leaders and secondary data from public documents and news reports, the paper examines whether measures introduced by the transit authorities addressed the issue of transit equity and the extent to which vulnerable groups were included in transit planning in the first year of the pandemic. The findings are that transit officials were aware of transit equity and did know that transit service cuts disproportionately affected the most vulnerable. They also proposed measures to mitigate the impact of cuts on vulnerable groups and raised transit equity in their appeals to senior government for more funding. They were, however, limited in their ability to address transit equity. The transit systems were forced to prioritize the maintenance of existing levels of service during the pandemic with only a limited capacity to introduce measures to advance transit equity.

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