CC Image courtesy of Allan: http://bit.ly/2g0IIkU
Torontonians On
Board With Cheaper GO/TTC Transfer
Toronto, October 10th
– In a random sampling of public opinion taken by The Forum Poll™ among 813 Toronto
voters, three-quarters (TOP2: 73%) say they approve of the proposal to reduce
transit fares by $1.50 for those transferring between the TTC and Go Transit or
between the TTC and the Union Pearson Express (UP), while using their Presto
card. Of those that approve, almost two-thirds (60%) say they strongly approve,
with just under one-sixth (13%) saying they somewhat approve.
Amongst existing users
that already transfer between the TTC and GO, or the TTC and the UP, almost
eight in ten (TOP2: 79%) say they approve.
Just one in ten
(BTM2: 10%) say they disapprove, with (6%) saying they strongly disapprove and
(4%) saying they somewhat disapprove.
Just over one in ten
(12%) say they neither approve nor disapprove, while few (5%) say they do not
know.
Respondents most
likely to approve include those aged 34 and younger (79%) or 45-54 (77%), the
least wealthy (81%) or earning $60,000-$80,000 (82%), those that take transit to work
or school (79%), with a college/university (73%) or post-graduate degree (76%),
and supporting the Liberals (80%) or NDP (80%).
Just
over a quarter currently use the GO or the UP and the TTC…
(27%) say they
currently use the GO or UP and the TTC in combination, while just under
three-quarters say they do not (73%).
…but
those that don’t, are now more likely to do so
Almost half of those
that do not currently use the TTC or UP in combination with the TTC (TOP2: 47%) say that the price reduction is
likely to make them start using the services in combination.
Fewer than two in
ten (BTM2: 19%) say they are unlikely to transfer between the TTC and the UP or
GO in response to the price reduction.
Just under three in
ten (28%) say the reduction will make them neither likely nor unlikely to use
the TTC and GO or UP in combination in the future, and few (5%) said they do
not know.
Respondents most
likely to say that they are likely to use transit systems in combination
include those aged 34 and younger (57%), females (52%), the least wealthy
(63%), with some college/university (53%), living in York (59%) or Scarborough
(56%), and supporting the Liberals (57%) or NDP (59%).
Respondents most
likely to say they’re unlikely to use the transit systems in combination
include those aged 55-64 (25%) or 65+ (26%), earning $20,000-$40,000 (24%) or
the most wealthy (21%), the least educated (22%) or with a college/university
degree (21%), living in East York (24%) or North York (26%), and supporting the
PCs (29%).
“The plan to reduce fares for those
transferring between the GO or Union Pearson Express and the TTC is a winner,” said
Dr. Lorne Bozinoff, President of Forum Research. “The people who currently
transfer between systems most strongly approve of the plan, and it looks like
it will make the people who don’t currently transfer are more likely to use more
than one system in combination. If the idea was to reduce the financial burden
on transit users and convince more people to use the GTA’s transit network, it
seems like this is a great start.”
Lorne Bozinoff,
Ph.D. is the president and founder of Forum Research. He can be reached at
lbozinoff@forumresearch.com or at (416) 960-9603.
