Two
thirds approve of ‘kids ride free’
Low income families, seniors seen to be more deserving
TORONTO, April
11th, 2015 - In
a random sampling of public opinion taken by the Forum Poll™ among 865 Toronto
voters, two thirds approve of the policy of offering free TTC rides to children
12 and under (64%), 3-in-10 disapprove (31%) and very few have no opinion (5%).
These numbers are exactly the same as the last time we polled this proposal, when
it was first made in January.
Low income families, seniors seen to be more deserving than
children
Despite
the approval seen above, voters see low income families as the most deserving of
free transit (34%), followed by seniors (22%). Only about half this proportion
think kids are the most deserving (13%). After kids come the unemployed (9%),
the homeless (8%) or some other group (5%). One tenth don’t know who is most
deserving (9%).
Fewer now see the UPX as too expensive
Close
to 6-in-10 voters see the Union Pearson Express (UPX) as too expensive to ride
at $27 one way or $19 with a Presto card (58%), and this is down considerably
from the number saying this noted in December, 2014 (69%). The proportion who
think this is an appropriate price has increased from one quarter then (23%) to
one third now (32%).
One fifth say they are very likely to take UPX to or from
Pearson
Just
one fifth of Toronto voters say they are very likely to use the UPX if they
have to get to or from Pearson (20%) and this is stable since December (18%).
In total, fewer than one half say they are at all likely to use the UPX (46%),
up slightly from December (42%). Those very likely to use the UPX are commonly
lower income ($20K to $40K - 27%) and those in York (where the UPX makes its
only stop - 29% - caution: small base size).
"It appears that Torontonians
are getting a little more used to the idea of paying a premium to ride public
transit directly to the airport, although it still doesn’t appear that
likelihood of usage is as high as it needs to be for large scale adoption," said Forum
Research President, Dr. Lorne Bozinoff.
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.
