Quarter of riders will wait for vaccine over train
Majority of TTC ex-users back limits to passengers and mandatory masks
One-quarter who transit crisis until have they’re say during they stopped vaccinated of won’t the Torontonians taking COVID-19 ride against public again the findings ronto disease, researchers. from according University to of new ToThe researchers results of say their the ongoing preliminary from study, 2,753 which survey are responses derived from people who regularly used transit prior to the pandemic, aren’t necessarily predictive, and riders’ attitudes could change as more information about the virus becomes known.
But a COVID-19 vaccine won’t likely be available for 12 to 18 months, according to most experts, and the possibility that a significant number of people won’t feel safe until one arrives is yet another sign TTC ridership won’t return to normal in the near or medium future.
“I think it’s an indication of the extent of the former ridership ee that’s really scared of transit t right now,” said Matthew Palm, a post-doctoral research fellow in the department of human geography at the University of Toronto Scarborough and member of the research team. Many riders now view “transit as a vector” for the disease, he said.
The survey found that among riders who have stopped using transit, a 63 per cent majority would come back by stage 3 of the province’s reopening plans, by which time the risk of the virus would be low enough that businesses would be allowed to reopen but large public gatherings would still be restricted. The Ontario government has yet to put a date on when the province will reach that stage, which involves the opening of all workplaces and relaxed re-strictions on public gatherings. Just one per cent of respon dents said they would never take transit again.
The survey also found 82 per cent of respondents who have stopped taking transit would back strict passenger limits on vehicles, with 72 per cent in fa- vour of making masks manda- tory for passengers. “Agencies that might be fearing the imposition or the unpopularity of safety measures need to turn around and say, ‘actually, hey look, there’s actually broad public support for having some safety measures in place,’ ” and should consider instituting them, said Steven Farber, a pro of human geography at U of T Scarborough and a member of the research team.
The TTC has not enacted strict passenger limits on vehicles during the COVID-19 crisis, although the agency has said its goal is to have no more than 15 people on a bus at any one time. Demand on the subway and streetcar networks remains low enough that crowding is not an issue, agency spokesperson Stuart Green told the Star last week. TTC ridership has fallen by 85 per cent since the start of the crisis.
Last week, the union representing most TTC workers called for transit riders to be required to wear face masks. Green said any such rule would have to come from the government or public health officials, not the transit agency.
The preliminary results of the survey seem to support the TTC’s previously reported conclusions that many people who continue to take transit d during the pandemic are lowwage workers and lower-income residents who have little alternative.
The U of T researchers found that compared to transit users in general, the people who continued to ride during the pandemic are more likely to be male, have a disability, earn incomes of less than $80,000, be over 50 years old, and identify as Filipino, Latin American, Middle Eastern, Southeast Asian, West Asian, South Asian or Black.
Of 836 respondents who are still riding, 55 per cent said not riding would require them to put off or reschedule medical appointments, and just under half said they would be forced to get groceries less often.
Farber said those numbers are an indication “of how much people really do depend on transit, and the far-reaching societal impacts this could have on people’s well-being if transit remains an unattractive option due to safety concerns or due to service reductions in response to dropped revenues.”