Next Stop Health: Transit Access and Health Inequities in Toronto

Abstract

Access to public transit contributes to the health of individuals, neighbourhoods, and to the city overall. The importance of public transit in Toronto is evident in residents' high usage rates to commute to work compared to other Canadian cities. This is particularly true for lower income commuters who are more dependent on public transit to get to work than their higher income counterparts. Despite greater reliance on public transit, its cost remains a problem for low income Toronto residents, particularly for those on social assistance. As well, the availability of transit has an impact on low income residents' ability to access important goods and services such as food, health care, employment, and recreation, all of which impact their health. It is critical that the barriers to accessing public transit experience by low income residents be addressed. It is an opportune time to consider the needs of low income residents given the focus on transit expansion in Toronto. This is especially important given the impact of limited access to transit on health and well-being. This report examines public transit use in Toronto, disparities in affordability and availability of public transit, the health impact of limited access to transit for low income residents, and strategies to improve access to public transit for low income residents.

Cite this work

No public copy is stored for this record, so only the metadata is cited.

Stored only when both papers are in the corpus — 8 citations exist upstream.