School’s out! Transportation Planning at UBC

by Andrew Devlin, Managing Associate

Access Planning’s Tamim Raad and Andrew Devlin returned to their alma mater this past term to co-teach “Transportation Planning for Good Cities and Regions” at UBC’s School of Community and Regional Planning.   

The class introduced students to the fundamentals of urban and regional transportation planning, what goes into developing transportation megaprojects, policies, strategies, and actions, and the critical role of values, objectives, and priorities in helping to keep cities and regions focused on what matters most. Students learned through the first-hand experience of an incredible group of practicing planners and engineers who shared their best advice and ideas to create equitable, just, and sustainable transportation systems and cities. 

Throughout the term, students leveraged this insight to develop ideas and proposals for implementing some of the key actions and strategies in Transport 2050 – Metro Vancouver’s regional transportation strategy. These included advancing a regional bus rapid transit network, developing a regionally integrated shared micro-mobility system, delivering interregional transit along the Sea-to-Sky corridor, and developing new ways to fund and deliver a robust regional bike network.  

A very big thank you to the guest speakers who shared their experiences, perspectives, and ideas as practicing planners helping advance some of Canada’s most complex transportation and mobility projects and initiatives. James Stiver Caitlin Cooper Nick Lovett Ingrid Hawkins Fearghal King Tessa Forrest Natalie Corbo Blair Underhill Justin Hall Joanna Clark Lisa Parker Michael Himmel Graham Cavanagh 

We can’t wait to see what this creative, thoughtful, and passionate generation of planners, designers, and engineers do next! Fumika Noguchi Caroline Dunaux Yiyang Wang Sayani Mandal Rahul Shahi Julianna Neudorf Rajpreet Sidhu Reyhan Cuming Alex Heilmann Khelen Upadhyay Kathryn Wu Stephanie Grondin Molly Barkowsky 

Developing TransLink’s Transit Service and HandyDART Service Performance Review

The Transit Service Performance Review (TSPR) and HandyDART Service Performance Review (HDSPR) are published annually by TransLink. The TSPR provides detailed insights into ridership trends across the entire TransLink transit system (SkyTrain, bus, West Cost Express, and HandyDART), while the HDSPR focuses on the performance of the HandyDART system, which is TransLink’s door-to-door, shared-ride service for people who need assistance to navigate the conventional public transit system. Both documents provide statistics on the recent year of transit service – valuable information for decision-making and providing public transparency on the TransLink system.  

Source: TransLink

Access Planning played a lead role in drafting and producing the 2020 HDSPR, as well as the 2021 and 2022 editions of both the TSPR and HDSPR. Our team completed extensive data analysis including preliminary and final calculations, advising on the most pertinent metrics to include, and visualizing relevant data in meaningful ways. We helped to sift through detailed ridership data to build the report’s narrative around the region’s annual ridership trends.  

The TSPR provides information on metrics such as busiest routes and stations; boardings by time of the day; average daily boardings per mode and more. The HDSPR includes data on demand and registration, service reliability and customer satisfaction. Given the significant impact that the COVID-19 pandemic had on transit ridership in 2020 and 2021, as well as in 2022, both documents also provide some information on “ridership recovery” – a comparison of transit ridership with the “pre-COVID” state in 2019, as well as in later years. The 2022 TSPR notes that TransLink’s system-wide ridership recovery in fall of 2022 reached 80% of pre-COVID-19 pandemic levels from fall 2019. In fact, according to the review, TransLink’s ridership recovery exceeded the average recovery rate across major Canadian and American transit agencies in this period. The 2022 review of the HDSPR similarly shows that the demand for HandyDART trips grew as public health restrictions were eased in early 2022. According to the review, 22% more new customers registered for HandyDART services compared to 2021 levels. 

Other key findings of the 2022 TSPR include: 

• Annual journeys across the system totalled 193.6 million in 2022, a 48% increase over 2021 and over 70% of levels in 2019. 

• TransLink was the first transit agency in Canada and the United States to reach 80% ridership recovery (in fall 2022). 

• TransLink ranked 5th in Canada and the United States in total transit boardings in 2022, despite being 24th in regional population. 

• Ridership continued to return slightly more on weekends than on weekdays. 

• Overcrowding on the bus system approached pre-pandemic levels through 2022 (approximately 8.2% in October 2022 compared to 10% pre-pandemic). 

Other key findings of the 2022 edition of HDSPR include: 

• In total, 964,800 HandyDART trips were delivered in 2022, up 39% from 2021. 

• HandyDART customer registrations grew by 22% in 2022, with 6,500 customers registering compared to 5,300 in 2021. 

• Customer ratings for both HandyDART and Supplemental Taxi scored high in overall service, on-time performance, and ease of booking a trip. 

For further information, please visit the TransLink website. 

Access is always ready to help clients translate complex data and information into compelling reports and materials to support policymaking and evidence-based decisions. Reach out to us to learn more and explore if this is something we can help you with.  

Access Planning in the UK

Earlier this month, Access Planning staff Andrew Devlin and Tamim Raad were thrilled to work with the UK Department for Business and Trade to support and facilitate a delegation of senior Canadian transportation professionals visiting London for the Future Cities and Net Zero Programme.

Access had the privilege of leading a seminar on Canada’s mobility landscape at the beautiful and historic Canada House, and the opportunity to meet with colleagues at Transport for London, the UK Department for Transport (DfT), Oxfordshire County Council, Network Rail, as well as numerous vendors and service providers to learn about the diverse actions and initiatives they are advancing to  decarbonize cities and prepare for new mobility systems and modes through innovation, cooperation, and collaboration. We also promoted the programs, initiatives, and interests of Canada's major urban transit and transportation agencies like TransLink, Metrolinx, Agence de mobilité durable, Autorité régionale de transport métropolitain, Toronto Parking Authority, and City of Vancouver.

Other highlights included taking in the release of the new ‘Decarbonising Transport’ report during a breakfast at the London Transport Museum, being given an amazing tour of the Paddington Elizabeth Line Station by station architects Christian Bocci and Alex Kirkwood of Weston Williamson + Partners.

All in all, it was an amazing 5-day trip, with exceptional mutual learning, exchange of ideas and networking. The ideas and discussions born out of this event will be fruitful to the future of transit and planning in both regions. Many thanks to the Department for Business and Trade, for putting together a great programme, and to Global Affairs Canada, for inviting Access Planning to support leading this delegation.

Access Planning at the 2023 Toronto Region Board of Trade’s Gateway to Growth Summit

Last week, Access Planning staff Lisa Salsberg, Tamim Raad, and Michael Himmel attended the Toronto Region Board of Trade’s (TRBOT) Gateway to Growth Summit focused on the Pearson Economic Zone. With Toronto Pearson sitting at the centre of the country’s second-largest employment centre (after downtown Toronto), the ability for people and goods to move efficiently around this economic hub is critical to the future of the Greater Toronto Area. 

Principal Tamim Raad participated on a panel exploring the untapped potential of transit in the Pearson Economic Zone, highlighting the challenges and opportunities for transit integration, regional coordination, and governance, drawing on his past experience as Director of the Transit Project Management Office for the GTAA and his multi-decade experience in regional transportation planning. 

Our team appreciated the thoughtful sharing of ideas and we’re looking forward to continuing to be involved in this exciting initiative. Special thanks to Phinjo Gombu at TRBOT for including us on the panel.