Calvin Hu, Anser Bassaria, and Ruby Reid
This project focuses on SDG 11, sustainable cities and communities, and SDG 13, climate action within London, Ontario. In 2019 the city of London declared a climate emergency due to rising temperatures as a result of greenhouse gas emissions. Moreover, rapid outward development of the city has led to urban sprawl.
The London Transit Commission runs public transport in the city and it is currently an inadequate system with low ridership. Bus routes have not developed alongside the city making the system inaccessible to communities in the outskirts of the city. Furthermore, the routes that are provided run infrequently. The lack of accessibility and reliability of the transit system has yielded to an increase in vehicle ownership levels. Since more vehicles are on the roads, greenhouse gas emissions have risen.
London Transit Commission is three years into a Five-Year Service Plan Framework to implement service changes over the 2020-2025 period. This plan reviews each route looking at demand and span to figure out where and when frequency should be increased and where there is currently no access in order to create new routes. A link to the latest update to the plan is here. There is also an ongoing survey for the community to add their input to the plan.
Proposed Rapid Transit routes proposed with pre-existing routes in light blue.
Public transit needs to become a viable option for more riders. London is a victim of urban sprawl. However, the public transit system, specifically buses, has not grown at the same rate as the city causing those who live further away from the center to rely on private cars as their main mode of transport. Apart from the lack of reliability and accessibility which is being addressed elsewhere, the current issue facing the system is awareness.
Using the transit system with no prior knowledge is an intimidating task that people choose to avoid, making them fall back on private vehicles as their primary mode of transportation. The increased number of cars in the city has negatively impacted the environment as a big contributor to air pollution through emissions. The current low ridership also harms the revenue of the London Transit Commission and the Municipal Government.