Toronto Transit Commission:

Request for Provincial Subsidy in

Support of Data Management Group.

The Urban Environment and Development Committee recommends that Council endorse the action taken by the Toronto Transit Commission, as embodied in the following communication (July 16, 1998) from the General Secretary of the Commission:

At its meeting on Wednesday, July 15, 1998, the Toronto Transit Commission considered the attached report, entitled "Request for Provincial Subsidy in Support of Data Management Group."

The Commission approved the recommendation contained in the above report, as listed below:

"It is recommended that the Commission:

(1)confirm its continued financial support of the Data Management group at the University of Toronto at a gross cost to the TTC of $96,600.00 in 1998, conditional upon receiving a 75percent subsidy from the Ontario Ministry of Transportation for this program. This financial support is part of the TTC's ongoing participation in the Toronto Area Transportation Planning Data Collection Steering Committee (TATPDCSC);

(2)request the Ontario Ministry of Transportation (MTO) to provide the TTC with a 75percent subsidy to be applied to offset this cost, which will result in a net cost to the TTC of $24,150.00 in 1998; and

(3)forward this report to the Ministry of Transportation and to the City of Toronto."

The foregoing is forwarded to the Province of Ontario for the necessary approval as detailed in the report, and to the City of Toronto for information.

(Toronto Transit Commission Report No. 21 entitled " Request for Provincial Subsidy in Support of Data Management Group.")

Recommendations:

It is recommended that the Commission:

(1)confirm its continued financial support of the Data Management Group at the University of Toronto at a gross cost to the TTC of $96,600.00 in 1998, conditional upon receiving a 75percent subsidy from the Ontario Ministry of Transportation for this program. This financial support is part of the TTC's ongoing participation in the Toronto Area Transportation Planning Data Collection Steering Committee (TATPDCSC);

(2)request the Ontario Ministry of Transportation (MTO) to provide the TTC with a 75percent subsidy to be applied to offset this cost, which will result in a net cost to the TTC of $24,150.00 in 1998; and

(3)forward this report to the Ministry of Transportation and to the City of Toronto.

Funding:

Sufficient funds to cover the net cost to the TTC have been provided in the 1998 TTC Operating Budget for this support.

Background:

The TTC has actively participated in the Toronto Area Transportation Planning Data Collection Steering Committee (TATPDCSC) since 1977, along with the Ministry of Transportation, the CityofToronto, GO Transit, and the Regional Municipalities of Durham, York, Peel, Halton, and Hamilton-Wentworth. The mandate for TATPDCSC is to co-ordinate and administer the identification, collection, and analysis of transportation planning information which is of common interest and benefit to the member agencies. This includes major travel surveys in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA), the development of common data standards, shared consistent data collection procedures, and the preparation of transportation forecasts for the GTA. TATPDCSC has conducted three comprehensive household travel surveys to date. The 1986, 1991, and 1996 Transportation Tomorrow Surveys were jointly organized and funded by TATPDCSC members, including the TTC, and by the Ministry of Transportation, which provided a 75 percent subsidy.

To realize efficiencies in the management of these survey data and other joint-shared databases, these data are stored in a centralized location at the Data Management Group (DMG) at the University of Toronto. To date, 75 percent of the funding is provided by the Province, and the remaining 25percent has been shared by the participating agencies. Ministry staff indicate that they expect this level of funding to be maintained in 1998. The Commission's net cost share represents approximately six percent of total costs.

Discussion:

Through participation in TATPDCSC, the TTC gains direct access to several million dollars worth of transportation planning data and research on an annual basis. These data are used extensively for transportation planning and policy development purposes. Detailed transit trip information from the 1986, 1991, and 1996 TTS databases are heavily used by TTC staff for market research, demand modelling, ridership forecasting, annual Service Plans, and various other special studies.

A major advantage of participating in TATPDCSC is that the Data Management Group at the University of Toronto assumes full responsibility for the management of the survey databases and co-ordination of associated research activities, under the direction of TATPDCSC. Consequently, TTC staff involvement is minimal, and TTC staff have direct on-line access to the TTS and other databases and transportation models such as EMME/2, resulting in substantial computing cost-savings to the TTC each year.

The 1998 net cost share for TTC participation in TATPDCSC and the DMG is estimated to be $24,150.00 based on a TTC gross cost share of $96,600.00 and the provision of a 75 percent subsidy from the Ministry of Transportation.

Justification:

The Commission should approve the net expenditure of $24,150.00 to the Data Management Group as part of the TTC's continued participation in TATPDCSC because the TTC will have access to several million dollars worth of valuable transportation planning information and analysis tools which are used to assist staff in determining the best allocation of TTC resources when making service planning decisions. This cost is relatively small compared with the value of the data and the cost to the TTC to collect, maintain, and support similar data and analysis tools in-house.