Torontonians will likely spend 1 year and 7 months of their life on public transit: report

Torontonians who commute to work everyday will likely spend about one year and seven months of their life on public transit, according to a new report.

Moovit, a public transit app, reached this finding by aggregating data from millions of trips conducted through their platform from 50 cities across the globe. It used metrics like commute and wait times, the number of transfers, public transit improvement factors and payment preferences to illustrate the average experience for commuters.

According to the 2024 Global Public Transport Report, the average commute time in Toronto – travelling one way – is about 55 minutes, which is abut five minutes behind Vancouver, the longest in the continent. Miami has the third longest commute times in North America at 52 minutes, the report found.

Moovit calculated how long commuters spend on public transit over the course of their lifetime by doubling the average one-way commute duration before multiplying by 250, the number of weekdays in a year, over 30 a year period, to account for the number of years a person will work.

Based on that calculation, Toronto commuters will spend an average of one year and seven months riding public transit, the report notes, though it pales in comparison to what transit takers in Mexico City face. There, commuters spend 67 minutes for one-way trips, equalling to one year and 10 months spent riding transit in a lifetime.

That said, 60 per cent of Toronto transit riders experience a “short” commute of up to 30 minutes, which includes the time it takes to walk, wait, and sit on public transit to get to where they’re going, while 30 per cent of Torontonians have a one-to-two-hour travel time. The trek runs from two hours or longer for 10 per cent of Toronto transit commuters.

Toronto, Boston, Chicago, and New York transit takers all wait the same average time for their bus or subway to arrive at 14 minutes – 11 minutes fewer than the longest average wait time of 25 minutes in Monterrey, Mexico.

As for how many lines or modes of transportation Toronto commuters take, about 22 per cent take just one to get to where they need to go – the lowest number in North America.

However, the data reveals most Toronto transit riders, 49 per cent, take two lines while another 22 per cent use three or more lines for their travel journeys.

For more Torontonians to consider taking public transit, the report reveals 27 per cent would want to see lower fare costs, while 25 per cent would want more frequent transportation.

A ‘traffic crisis’

Long commutes are also impacting Toronto-area drivers, as a newly published study by the Canadian Centre for Economic Analysis found the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area is experiencing a “traffic crisis” due to worsening traffic congestion.

“With the region housing over half of Ontario’s population, the GTHA experiences congestion that significantly increase travel times and diminishes economic productivity,” the report reads.

The study found the GTHA has seen a 37 per cent increase in the number of vehicles on the road since 2001, compared to just 17 per cent outside the region. The study also determined commuters face “heavy congestion” three or more times a week.

Across the province, the number of commuters is expected to rise by 1.9 million over the next two decades, including 1.1 million within the GTHA.

With files from CP24’s Codi Wilson