DRT Updates

Some interesting information was presented to this week’s Transit Executive Committee meeting, in the form of staff reports:

• Staff are recommending that the “loop” at the bottom of the Audley South route, previously blogged about, should be retained.  Interestingly enough, the fuel savings from eliminating the route would actually be less than the lost ridership in DRT’s estimation, meaning that eliminating the route would cost DRT money.
• Ridership is up 13% from the first four months of 2007 to the first four months of 2008.  DRT continues to slowly recover from the effects of the 2007 strike, although it’s reasonable to assume that the creation of the 915 Taunton and 916 Rossland routes represent at least some of the improvement.  Sadly, no such route additions will occur this year.  It will be interesting to see if DRT experiences ridership growth from 2008 to 2009.
• Students continue to represent the major share of DRT ridership at 49%.  In other words, DRT continues to struggle to attract “non-discretionary” riders who actually have a choice.  Indeed, adult ridership is in a decline from 2007 to 2008, although the report I have does not provide specific numbers.
• DRT’s budget situation continues to be unsettled.  As of March 31, DRT staff were projecting a budget deficit between $250,000 and $450,000 for the end of the year.  This is greatly reduced from the deficit that occurred last year, but is still a concern.  Much of the problem is fuel prices, as well as additional snow removal given the harsh winter we had this year.  Unfortunately, DRT does not use a fixed price fuel contract as the TTC does, so impacts of fuel price increases are immediate.  This will bear close watching, as it is essential to ensure that Council does not see this as an excuse to further delay service enhancements.