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.
