Access worked closely with Metrolinx, Greater Toronto’s regional transportation authority, to design a policy, engagement, and technical approach to develop specific proposals for improving fare equity and access to jobs, services and social connectivity particularly for those on lower incomes.

Metrolinx is seeking to improve access to transit by integrating transit fares across the region’s many cities and operators as the system expands. A key challenge is ensuring affordability of transit for those individuals and families earning lower incomes. Our team created a policy development roadmap so that Metrolinx could develop near term implementation actions and longer term policy directions over the course of the next year. This included integrating activities such as goal setting and outcome definition, data analytics, policy analysis, engagement with cities and transit operators and government/Metrolinx policy decision-making.

A hallmark of Access’ work approach is our focus on collaboration and co-design with agency staff teams to deepen our collective understanding of issues, options and solutions. In this work, Access worked side by side with Metrolinx staff through a series of collaborative workshops to quickly arrive at a plan for tackling this pressing policy challenge.