Following the approvals of the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) Conventional and Wheel-Trans Budget and the 2023 Operating Budget, the TTC revealed the first phase of their 2023 Service Alignment plan. Phase 1 will be implemented on March 26th, 2023, and will result in service changes on 39 routes (one streetcar route, two subway routes, and 36 bus routes), which is 20% of all TTC routes.
Researchers and public transit advocates, among others, have repeatedly raised concerns over the potential outcome of these proposed service cuts. One key concern is how these service cuts may negatively impact marginalized populations. Lower-income people, those with precarious employment, new immigrants, and older and younger people often depend on public transit for their everyday needs, compared to less deprived groups for whom public transit may sometimes be a choice.
In this brief report, we plotted the affected routes (i.e., those facing service cuts) within the City of Toronto in relation to locations within the city where there are higher levels of material deprivation, dependency, and ethnic concentration. The key goal was to identify if the TTC service cuts will disproportionately affect locations with a high concentration of marginalized population groups.