On December 20, Mobility Network Director, Prof. Eric Miller, The Benefits of Transit Investment Interim Findings, Phase 2, to the Toronto Transit Commission Board. The presentation provided a high-level overview of Phase 2 research results to date. Professor Miller’s presentation starts around the 1 hour and 10 min mark.
A multi-regional input-output model calculated the GDP impact and jobs created as a result of TTC operating and capital investments. A travel demand forecasting model calculated the benefits to transit riders and drivers, public health and environmental benefits. The transit user, economic, environmental and social benefits were studied under two scenarios: 1) restoring service to 2019 levels and 2) closure of Line 2, due to lack of investment. The combined results of the models estimates that restoring services to 2019 levels has an overall impact of $737 million/year, while the closure of Line 2 results in a loss of $2.5 billion/year. The research team, led by Prof. Eric Miller, includes Prof. Marianne Hatzopoulou, Richard DiFrancesco , Steven Farber and Mobility Network Managing Director, Dr. Judy Farvolden.
Phase 1 of the project kicked off in June 2022, when the TTC partnered with Mobility Network to identify and quantify the economic benefits resulting from investment in transit and the TTC. The Phase 1 discussion paper, “Economic, Social & Environmental Benefits of Transit Investment” reviewed the fundamental role that investments in the TTC play in the lives, health and well-being of the residents of Toronto and beyond, including environmental, social and community benefits, the large and irreplaceable role reliable transit plays in moving people and making Toronto “work”, and the significant impacts of transit investments on the regional, national and global economies. Professors Eric Miller, Marianne Hatzopoulou, Amer Shalaby, Richard DiFrancesco, Matti Siemiatycki and David Wolfe, postdoctoral fellows Dr. Willem Klumpenhouwer, Dr. Matthew Palm and Dr. Ignacio Tiznado Aitken and Mobility Network Managing Director, Dr. Judy Farvolden, contributed to the report.
Phase 1 set up the Phase 2 research which will be completed early in the summer of 2024.