Canada’s public transit ‘death spiral’

Front Burner

Earlier this month, Ottawa mayor Mark Sutcliffe warned the provincial and federal governments that his city was facing a public transit funding crisis. He says that at this rate, the city won’t have enough money to run the light rail lines currently under construction.

From Metro Vancouver to Toronto, we’re seeing similar issues in major cities across Canada.

These cities are dealing with what planning experts call a “transit death spiral”. When ridership drops, they can’t keep up with the costs of the current system that commuters rely on, let alone the big projects that could attract new riders.

David Cooper is the founder and principal of the Canadian transportation planning firm, Leading Mobility. He co-wrote a recent report on the state of transit funding in Canada’s biggest cities.

David talks to guest host Jonathan Montpetit about just how dire the situation is and what solutions are on the table.

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