Torontonians Spend More Time Commuting Now Than Six Years Ago

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Torontonians Spend More Time Commuting Now Than Six Years Ago

Big jumps in North York, Etobicoke, and York to blame

Toronto, June 13th, 2019 - In a random sampling of public opinion taken by the Forum Poll™ among 1157 Toronto voters, commute times are up an average of almost 8% since 2013, with an average commute of 42 minutes, up from 39 minutes in 2013.

About 9 in 10 (87%) say they commute to work or school, an increase of six points since 2013 (2013: 81%).

One sixth (16%) said their commute was less than 15 minutes, while one-fifth (20%) said their commute took between 15 and 30 minutes.

One-fifth (19%) said their commute takes more than 30 minutes but less than 45 minutes, while a similar proportion (17%) said their commute takes between 45 minutes and one hour.

About 1 in 10 (8%) said that their commute takes more than one hour, but less than an hour and a half, while a similar proportion (7%) said their commute takes an hour and a half or more.

About 1 in 10 (13%) said they don’t travel to work or school.

Young people are most likely to report the longest commute, with those aged 18-34 saying they faced an average commute of 46 minutes to work or school and those aged 35-44 saying their commute was 43 minutes.

Those earning $40,000-$60,000 had the longest average commute, saying it takes them 49 minutes to get to work or school.

We’ve seen major changes in commute duration by areas of the city since 2013, with Downtown/East York and Scarborough each seeing modest declines in their average commute duration, but North York, Etobicoke/York seeing major increases.

The Former City of Toronto/East York sees a modest decline in their average commute time to an average of 35 minutes, down from an average of 37 minutes in 2013.

Scarborough saw a similarly modest decline in the average commute since 2013, with residents saying their 2019 commute is an average of 46 minutes, down from 49.

North York, however, has seen a massive increase of more than 21% in their average commute duration, with residents saying their average commute is now 45 minutes.

It was only 37 minutes in 2013.

Etobicoke/York has seen an even bigger jump in its average commute duration, increasing by more than 31%, to 46 minutes in 2019, from only 35 minutes in 2013.

One point of surprise in the results is this: amongst those who identify transit as their primary mode of transportation, they say their average commute is 52 minutes, well above the average, and above those who identify a private vehicle as their primary mode of transportation (40 minutes).

Torontonians say commute is affecting quality of life

Amongst those who travel to work or school, almost two-thirds (60%) agree that the time they spend commuting reduces their quality of life.

A quarter (27%) disagree that the time they spend traveling to and from work or school reduces their quality of life, about one-sixth (13%) say they don’t know.

Majority say solution to relieve congestion is more transit

More than half (58%) say that building more transit is the best way to relieve congestion, down six points since 2013 (2013: 64%).

 One-sixth (17%) say the best way to relieve congestion is building more roads, down six points since 2013 (2013: 23%), while a similar proportion (16%) say that something else should be done to relieve congestion, up six points since 2013 (2013: 10%).

1 in 10 (9%) say they don’t know, up six points since 2013 (2013: 3%)

 

“On average, commute times have increased across the city, due to the massive increases we’re seeing in North York, Etobicoke, and York,” said Dr. Lorne Bozinoff, President of Forum Research. “Young people, and particularly public transit users, are hardest hit by long commutes. The majority say that building more public transit is the way to alleviate congestion, but we’ve also seen an increase in the amount of people who want another option, or just don’t know how to improve the problem; it may speak to a general frustration about the state of traveling throughout the city.”

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.