Who rides transit in your city?

[Acajack]

Just wondering what your assessment is of transit use in your city across the various demographics, times and days of the week, and reasons for travel.

For example:

Peak period to and from work

Off-peak for non-work, daytime, evenings, weekends

Lower, middle and higher income

Singles

Families with kids

And the various mixes.

[Acajack]

Ottawa
Peak period transit use to and from work is heavy for all social classes in Ottawa. Even a good number of government senior executives take transit to work. This applies mostly to employment located downtown and near major transit stops outside downtown (Tunney's Pasture, St. Laurent). Peak period transit use drops like a rock for employment locations that are not adjacent to or very close to main transit stations, for middle and upper income people.

Off peak during the day most of the "by choice" transit users (ie those who own a car) disappear in Ottawa, except for younger single professionals who still might use the service to get around the city to some degree. That said, in the CBD at lunch time some of the "by choice" riders show up to ride one or two stops from their office to the Rideau Centre or to run some other errand.

Other than that transit riders during the day in Ottawa are very predominantly lower income (including many families), or teens or younger adults.

Families: lower income families in Ottawa are a frequent sight on transit at all times all days of the week.

Middle and upper income families do not tend to take transit in Ottawa for their activities, and this is true even of those who live in the inner city. They drive.

Many single people with no kids in Ottawa will take transit for their activities on evenings and weekends. And this is true of all income categories. Couples with no kids may also take transit for these, but to a lesser degree.

Affluent empty nesters and retirees in Ottawa do not tend to take transit for their activities, although this might be slowly changing.

[SignalHillHiker]

St. John's

Our transit system is limited to Metrobus.

It serves the cities of St. John's and Mount Pearl but, as far as I am aware, not the adjacent suburban towns of Conception Bay South, Paradise, Portugal Cove-St. Philip's, and Torbay.

We have no metro-wide or regional transit system, though some areas are served by private companies that operate vans or small buses between suburban communities and St. John's/Mount Pearl.

Metrobus seems to be used primarily by:

1. Students
2. Those who cannot afford/do not want a personal vehicle
3. Commuters

Metrobus is one of those services that residents of the St. John's Metro, especially those who rely on it, love to complain about. It's deserved, to an extent - but they're doing well with what they have.

[Xelebes]

I ride it. Don't really pay attention to who rides with me (save for the hot chicks who ride with me,) so I'm not all that good at judging how much of who riding it. Lots of seniors, disabled, students, people who can't be bothered to drive to work, people unable to afford the drive to work and so forth.

[Surrealplaces]

Here's who rides transit in Calgary

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7249/7049525673_c7387c1caa_c.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/anotheralteregoofmine/7049525673/)
warbird (http://www.flickr.com/photos/anotheralteregoofmine/7049525673/) by inhale kilz (http://www.flickr.com/people/anotheralteregoofmine/), on Flickr

[Surrealplaces]

Seriously though.... In Calgary it depends on whether it's bus or LRT, there seems to be a difference. (maybe one of the Calgary forumers has some stats)

LRT - It's people of all income types and all ages whether it's peak times or off peak times it doesn't matter. People also use the LRT a lot for sporting events NHL, or CFL much more than buses. The Stampede Park hosts events almost every day of the year, and the LRT is by far the primary transit for that. The LRT is also the prime transit for University and SAIT.

Buses - It's generally people of all income types during peak times, and lower income or youths during off peak times. Even during peak times, not as diverse as the LRT.

[Acajack]

Gatineau

Peak period transit use to and from work is relatively common in all social classes in Gatineau, but levels are lower than in Ottawa. One thing I notice about Gatineau is a higher number of lower income support staff in office jobs who drive alone to work downtown and pay for parking. When transit would be about as convenient and cheaper for them. It is not uncommon to have offices where the mail room guy or the secretary drives to work, and their boss who makes much more money takes transit. Very bizarre.

Off peak during the day most of the "by choice" transit users (ie those who own a car) are even less common than in Ottawa. The younger single professionals who take daytime, evening or weekend transit in Ottawa are almost nowhere to be found on the buses in Gatineau.

In discussions I have had over the years with fellow express bus riders, almost no one I know has ever used their bus pass for any travel outside of the AM and PM peak. Most have never even used their pass on the regular routes that run all over the city all the time, even though it is valid on all of them.

Off peak daytime transit riders in Gatineau are even more predominantly lower income (including many families) and poorer, as well as teens or younger adults, than in Ottawa.

Families: it seems like the lower income families in Gatineau that you see on transit are poorer than those in Ottawa. Also, judging from the number of jalopies you seen in certain areas of Gatineau if you are borderline poor to working class you likely have access to a car of some kind here. (Note that housing is cheaper than in Ottawa so this frees up some cash.) In Ottawa those people can probably find a way to do without a car since they have to spend more on housing.

Middle and upper income families are virtually non-existent on transit in Gatineau when it comes to shopping or activity-generated travel.

Contrary to Ottawa, Gatineau's childless singles and couples all drive to their activities on evenings and weekends. Unless they are really poor.

Affluent empty nesters and retirees do not generally take transit for their activities and errands in Gatineau.

[eternallyme]

There is definitely a negative stigma about buses. They often tend to be associated with poverty and crime, rightfully or wrongfully.

A major reason IMO Gatineau missed an opportunity and just decided to go with BRT as opposed to LRT or a rail-based system for the Rapibus corridor.

[SHOFEAR]

Seriously though.... In Calgary it depends on whether it's bus or LRT, there seems to be a difference. (maybe one of the Calgary forumers has some stats)

LRT - It's people of all income types and all ages whether it's peak times or off peak times it doesn't matter. People also use the LRT a lot for sporting events NHL, or CFL much more than buses. The Stampede Park hosts events almost every day of the year, and the LRT is by far the primary transit for that. The LRT is also the prime transit for University and SAIT.

Buses - It's generally people of all income types during peak times, and lower income or youths during off peak times. Even during peak times, not as diverse as the LRT.

ditto for E-town.

[nname]

Metro Vancouver

Morning peak (6:30am - 9:30am): 27.0%
Mid-day (9:30am - 3:30pm): 32.8%
Afternoon peak (3:30pm - 6:30pm): 26.1%
Evening (6:30pm - 12am): 9.2%
Late night (12am - 6:30am): 4.9%

To/from work: 62.4%
To/from school: 7.4%
Recreation/dining/shop: 19.7%
Personal business/other: 10.5%

Age 0-4: 0.8%
Age 5-17: 9.5%
Age 18-24: 23.3%
Age 15-49: 42.4%
Age 50-64:14.5%
Age 65-79: 6.9%
Age 80+: 2.6%

[vid]

The "captive audience". Students, seniors, and low-income people.

[MonkeyRonin]

Everyone.

[Doady]

In Mississauga, the buses are mostly only used by foreign workers. Canadian workers use the GO Train instead.

[Metro-One]

Vancouver seems to be pretty evenly distributed regarding demographics. There is no real predominant group or class that uses transit, though I will say the WCE and the Canada Line tend to be a little more high class than the Expo Line. The M-Line is in the middle, and has many students due to SFU.

[kwoldtimer]

In Mississauga, the buses are mostly only used by foreign workers. Canadian workers use the GO Train instead.

How can you tell who is foreign and who is Canadian in Mississauga? :shrug:

[armorand93]

Winnipeg:

me, me, me, me, me, students, poor people, seniors, cute girls, me, me and most especially. ME!

:D

[isaidso]

In Mississauga, the buses are mostly only used by foreign workers. Canadian workers use the GO Train instead.

How can they tell the difference? Do they check for passports?

[MTLskyline]

AMT commuter train passengers (at least on the Mont Saint-Hilaire Line) seem mostly to be office workers (who would normally drive). Trains on this line really only run during rush hour though.

It's really the only system in Montreal that I noticed a high number of one group or other.

Montreal Metro has a mix of all sorts of people. Green line downtown has probably the biggest mix A lot of businesspeople during morning and evening rush hours. On weekends there are a lot more infrequent riders such as suburban families and tourists. Haven't ridden a Montreal bus in ages.

Longueuil buses also have a mix, a large number of customers are students and senior citizens.

[The_Architect]

KW: Students.

[Ontario1]

How can you tell who is foreign and who is Canadian in Mississauga? :shrug:

It's easy to tell who is foreign. They no speaka da English.

[kw5150]

Everyone. And I mean everyone.......lol.

Calgary transit (to me) is an absolute gong show (in a good way) at rush hour. Its kinda nuts but people are usually polite. My secret to not letting people squish you into a little corner is to stand about 2 inches back (or forward) than you should and then once the train door closes you can relaaaaaaax. You have to plan what side of the train you are getting out of or you could get trapped or blocked. People step off the train to let you out if that happens.

[matt602]

Transit usage in Hamilton is fairly high, especially in the lower city where it is more used by blue collar workers and the lower income classes. On the mountain where the income comes more into the middle most of the transit usage is students either going to Mohawk or McMaster in the West end of the city. The B-Line corridor which runs East-West from McMaster to Eastgate near Stoney Creek sees very high ridership as well and is top priority for any future LRT funding.

GO Transit routes into and out of the city are pretty frequently used as well, especially the Toronto-Hamilton QEW service. At rush hour on weekdays it's pretty common to see crush loaded buses leaving for Toronto and coming into Hamilton every half hour. The trains that come into Hamilton usually don't have too many people left on them after Aldershot though, I'd imagine most people just take the bus from Toronto.

[goodthings]

Peel Region (Brampton and Mississauga):

- STUDENTS, STUDENTS, STUDENTS!!! (middle school, high school, and post-secondary) (ahem, BT 11, 501/501A and Miway 22, 66, 110)
.
.
.
.
- new immigrants
- seniors (evident during off-peak hours and weekends)
- shoppers
- immigrant families (during weekends)
- low-income warehouse workers (especially in the eastern part of the region)
- high-ended businesspeople (for routes that serve corporate centres)
.
.
.
- So really, 10% of the population, I think, with the highest usage along the Hurontario, Queen, Steeles, Dundas, and Burnhamthorpe corridors, as well as Ward 3 of Mississauga (the eastern part of the city, likely due to connections to the TTC subway system).

Also, GO Transit serves a lot of students and commuters too via buses and trains.

In fact, Square One is the hub for student commuters to almost all post-secondary instiutions in Western Greater Golden Horseshoe, which makes the terminal full of students Fridays and Sundays, thanks to GO Transit's special Friday-Sunday services from universities:
- University of Waterloo (via GO Transit Route 25)
- Wilfrid Laurier University (via GO Transit Route 25)
- University of Guelph, main campus (via GO Transit Route 29)
- McMaster University (via GO Transit Route 47)
- York University, Keele campus (via GO Transit Routes 45, 46, 47)
- Sheridan College Oakville Campus (via GO Transit Route 46)
- Humber College North Campus (via MiWay Route 107)
- University of Guelph, Humber campus (via MiWay Route 107)
- U of T Mississauga (via MiWay Route 110)
- Sheridan College Brampton Campus (via MiWay Route 66)
- Sheridan College Mississauga Campus (walking distance)

In Mississauga, the buses are mostly only used by foreign workers. Canadian workers use the GO Train instead.

Half-true. I see lots of white people taking buses to the warehouses. Actually, majority of the passengers of those buses are male too.

[Doady]

Half-true. I see lots of white people taking buses to the warehouses. Actually, majority of the passengers of those buses are male too.

Really? Most commuting local transit riders in Mississauga are women I think. Women less likely to own a car. Or maybe the only car in the household is used by the husband - not all "captive" riders belong to carless households. Transit here's not really about enabling families to live without a car, but maybe more like enabling families to live without that second or third car.

So really, 10% of the population, I think, with the highest usage along the Hurontario, Queen, Steeles, Dundas, and Burnhamthorpe corridors, as well as Ward 3 of Mississauga (the eastern part of the city, likely due to connections to the TTC subway system).

Actually it's 15.7% of the population (of Mississauga) using transit for commutes. So the % of the population taking transit for any purpose would be even higher, like 20% or something. 10% would be the proportion of all trips for any purpose using transit (% fo trips, not population).

Transit usage in Hamilton is fairly high, especially in the lower city where it is more used by blue collar workers and the lower income classes.

Lower transit usage than Mississauga though. As you point out, Hamilton is blue collar, lots of unionized workers. It seems like cities with a heavy union presence don't actually have high transit ridership.

[whatnext]

Lower transit usage than Mississauga though. As you point out, Hamilton is blue collar, lots of unionized workers. It seems like cities with a heavy union presence don't actually have high transit ridership.

Probably because with union wages they can afford cars.

[dleung]

In Richmond, it's white people and the elderly/children. German cars for everyone else age 16 - 65

[someone123]

Tourists love Halifax's easy-to-understand bus system:

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8190/8100280213_d148741f1e_z.jpg
Source (http://www.flickr.com/photos/79713023@N02/8100280213/sizes/z/)

[MonctonRad]

Since Codiac Transpo has been on strike for the last four months, it would appear that absolutely no one is currently riding on the transit system in greater Moncton.

[flar]

Ottawa
Peak period transit use to and from work is heavy for all social classes in Ottawa. Even a good number of government senior executives take transit to work. This applies mostly to employment located downtown and near major transit stops outside downtown (Tunney's Pasture, St. Laurent). Peak period transit use drops like a rock for employment locations that are not adjacent to or very close to main transit stations, for middle and upper income people.

Off peak during the day most of the "by choice" transit users (ie those who own a car) disappear in Ottawa, except for younger single professionals who still might use the service to get around the city to some degree. That said, in the CBD at lunch time some of the "by choice" riders show up to ride one or two stops from their office to the Rideau Centre or to run some other errand.

Other than that transit riders during the day in Ottawa are very predominantly lower income (including many families), or teens or younger adults.

Families: lower income families in Ottawa are a frequent sight on transit at all times all days of the week.

Middle and upper income families do not tend to take transit in Ottawa for their activities, and this is true even of those who live in the inner city. They drive.

Many single people with no kids in Ottawa will take transit for their activities on evenings and weekends. And this is true of all income categories. Couples with no kids may also take transit for these, but to a lesser degree.

Affluent empty nesters and retirees in Ottawa do not tend to take transit for their activities, although this might be slowly changing.

This seems about right. My friend from Windsor wouldn't believe me when I told him I saw executive level public servants on the bus. Personally, I'm like many people in Ottawa: I've never driven to work, but I hardly ever use the bus outside commuting. Outside rush hour, Octranspo seems to be like the bus in most cities: low income, students and seniors.

[Andrewjm3D]

I can tell you who doesn't ride transit in Toronto.

This idiot - http://i.thestar.com/images/50/c4/e73af52545298944f1dea615f250.jpeg

[vid]

He doesn't ride transit, but on several occasions he has come close to riding into it.

[Andrewjm3D]

Perhaps if the streetcar ran through a KFC window he might consider using it from time to time.

[manny_santos]

London

Mostly students at Western University and Fanshawe College. The crowding on the buses near those two institutions makes one feel like they are taking transit in a much larger city. Some affluent people from the suburbs who work downtown use it, as it's cheaper than parking day after day. But other than that it's mostly low-income and seniors.

Kingston

Queens and St. Lawrence students use the buses to some extent, but nothing like in London, likely because the Queens campus is almost downtown while Western's campus is far removed from London's downtown. Most of Kingston Transit's users are seniors and low income users. The service is too infrequent to be used by anyone who can afford a car; I have lived in Kingston for almost two months and I'm in the process of buying a car as public transit is too limiting there. What Kingston has that London doesn't have, however, is a park-and-ride lot just off of the 401, with a bus running from Montreal Street north of the 401 to downtown, catering to out-of-town commuters working in Downtown Kingston.

Toronto

Everyone except Rob Ford. Rob Ford wouldn't be caught dead using something that is part of the War on Cars.

[Acajack]

This seems about right. My friend from Windsor wouldn't believe me when I told him I saw executive level public servants on the bus. Personally, I'm like many people in Ottawa: I've never driven to work, but I hardly ever use the bus outside commuting. Outside rush hour, Octranspo seems to be like the bus in most cities: low income, students and seniors.

Or the only day of the year you drive to work is Dec. 24 when you bring your kids to the office for the morning and you have all that crap to bring to the office for the Christmas potluck! ;)

[vid]

They probably drove to work when transit went on strike for 7 weeks. ;)

[Blitz]

It's pretty much restricted to poor people, seniors, and students. People love their North American-made cars around these parts.

[Symz]

It's pretty much restricted to poor people, seniors, and students. People love their North American-made cars around these parts.

I have to agree Blitz. Around here taking the bus is almost a derogatory term. Jacob from the Windsor threads is the bus expert though, he could better sum up Windsor's current public transportation situation.

[Deepstar]

Sometimes it seems like every nut case in Calgary rides the LRT, especially after hours.

[Doady]

Windsor just another manufacturing city with low transit ridership. Industrial jobs are spread out, hard to serve efficiently with transit. The fact that Transit Windsor doesn't serve the entire urban area probably doesn't help either.

Around 30 riders per capita, it's pretty similar to St-Catharines, but ~25% lower than Hamilton, Mississauga, Oshawa, but those are larger cities. At least, Windsor still has better transit ridership than Detroit.

[harls]

When I used to work in downtown Ottawa, I'd drive every day to work (had a parking spot paid for by the company). This was mostly because I was in sales, and needed my car to go to the suburbs to visit clients.

I switched roles a couple of years ago and needed my car less, so I forfeited my parking spot and took transit. It was mostly government workers that I saw on my bus route (it's easy to tell when everyone wears a lanyard.. also I have a keen eye for that 'government' wear, but that's for another thread).

Today, thanks to my powers of persuasion and rugged good looks, I work from home and have no need for transit. I can't remember the last time I took a bus. I think it was Canada Day to watch the fireworks on Parliament Hill.