Originally published in the Winnipeg Free Press on December 4, 2018.
By Joseph Kornelsen
In late November, Winnipeggers received the news that Transit is experiencing a $7.9-million budget surplus. In any year, this kind of news would be surprising, but it is especially so given the extreme measures taken last year to address a Transit fiscal shortfall following a funding cut from the provincial government and declining revenue as a result of falling ridership.
To address these funding challenges, the city implemented a historically large fare increase of 25 cents. Mayor Brian Bowman and council also considered cutting service from 22 routes, but reconsidered after public outrage.
The surplus occurred because ridership didn’t fall as expected. This is a key opportunity for the city to recognize the importance of service (frequency, hours of service, coverage) and begin to take the needed steps to bring transit centre stage in Winnipeg’s overall transportation network.
Functional Transit Winnipeg has been saying for years that improved service is the key to increasing ridership. We cannot yet say for certain why ridership has stopped falling, but we can certainly presume the decision not to cut service is likely a contributing factor. In fact, the current pattern of falling ridership began in 2015, the year the mayor and council cut funding to transit service.
Mayor Bowman and council should be breathing a massive sigh of relief that they made the right choice by not cutting service. Spiralling ridership has a direct impact on everyone’s commute. Every rider who switches to a private automobile contributes to worse traffic jams in the short term and much more expensive infrastructure in the long term.
This is a moment of opportunity for Mayor Bowman to put forward a vision for Winnipeg’s future growth. This is the moment we realize what big cities before us have realized: moving as many people by transit as possible is the most efficient way to grow a city. But it’s even more than that. Investing in transit is a winning policy direction because it has an impact on so many issues facing our city and our world today. Good transit promotes walkable urban environments, addresses commute times, reduces our carbon footprint and provides affordable mobility.
And, of course, effective transit service that generates increased ridership is good for a city’s bottom line.
Building infrastructure for private vehicles is a massive expense we must find ways to avoid. We are about to spend $450 million to add two vehicle lanes along 3.5 kilometres of Route 90. That’s only slightly less than the $467-million cost of phase two of the Southwest Corridor, which is twice as long. Additionally, buses use road space much more efficiently than cars do. Buses can carry 25 times more people than the average occupancy of a private vehicle in Canada.
Too often, investments in transit are portrayed as beneficial just to riders. But that isn’t the case at all. The more people choose to switch from private vehicles to the bus, the less congestion and infrastructure costs everyone experiences.
It is certainly true that some simply prefer to drive, but there are a lot of people filling our roads with cars right now who would love to leave driving behind completely; they find driving to be uncomfortable, unsafe and a waste of time, and they particularly hate it in the winter. If transit service met these people’s needs, they would be only too happy to make the switch.
Research shows better service means more riders. Cities such as Houston and Seattle, which invested in frequent service, have seen ridership rise.
Winnipeggers themselves are telling decision-makers they want better transit. Transit was listed as the No. 1 priority in Winnipeg’s last budget consultation, and it often comes near the top in telephone surveys.
Other cities in Canada have outpaced us in their support for transit. It’s time for us to catch up and invest in better service and implement a frequent transit network in Winnipeg.
Attracting discretionary riders is a critical part of growing our transit network, but it would be unacceptable to neglect those who have no other choice but to use transit to get around. Given the role transit often serves as a form of mobility of last resort for those unable to afford other options, the fare increase was, and continues to be, a very large financial hit. In light of the surplus, the city must, at a bare minimum, hold the line on a fare increase this year or consider a reduction to offset some of last year’s increase.
The implementation of a low-income bus pass is supported by poverty advocates and is a good way to address affordability for the most vulnerable riders. But, critically, this is an investment in providing mobility, not an investment in transit, and it should be clear that this funding must come from outside Winnipeg Transit’s budget.
By resisting the urge last year to cut service, city decision-makers prevented our city from continuing a spiral of ridership declines and service cuts. That we saw ridership stop declining is a powerful indicator that Winnipeggers are ready to ride the bus if service meets their needs.
Mayor Bowman and council have a clear opportunity to put their stamp on our city’s future. By investing in transit, we will increase ridership and ensure that as we grow to a city of one million, we will do so as an affordable, accessible and environmentally sustainable city.