Metrobus Transit Study.pdf - City of St. John's

St. John’s Transportation Commission (Metrobus) 2011
Market Assessment and Strategic Directions Study – Part B: The Past and Present – Understanding Ridership Trends
in an aging society is lower as the labour force is generally comprised of the 20 to 60 year old
population.
The senior population tends to be more dependent on transit than other age groups and requires
different services, forms of service delivery, and levels of service. It is important for Metrobus to
fully understand the needs of this age group and proactively cater to them.
Household Formation versus Population Growth
Household formation in St. John’s is occurring at a faster rate than population growth. This means
that the number of occupants per household is getting smaller. This is a result of two factors:
An older population creates more households than a younger population as ‘empty nest’
and single person households increase dramatically; and
The declining birthrate reduces the number of children per household.
A third factor is the growth in prosperity in recent years in Northeast Avalon. In periods of
prosperity more young people tend to move out of their family home and many have moved to
peripheral locations where the cost of housing is less expensive. This trend contributes to transit
ridership decline.
Birthrate
The birthrate in St. John’s has been decreasing. Students are a big part of transit ridership as they
often have no other means of getting to/from school. The declining number of school aged children
is contributing to Metrobus’ ridership decline.
6.5 Factors Influencing Auto Ownership and Use
Auto Ownership
Auto use is inversely proportional to transit ridership. Generally, in times of economic prosperity
auto use tends to increase and St. John’s recent economic boom as a result of the oil industry is
reflected in increased auto use. According to a recent issue of Moneysense Magazine, St. John’s
ranks sixth in the percentage of new cars on the road out of 178 communities in Canada. This is
ahead of Toronto, Vancouver, Calgary, and Montreal, the major centres of population in Canada.
Since 2007, it can be inferred that more residents are able to own and operate cars and that this
trend has had a negative impact on Metrobus ridership.
According to the CUTA Transit Vision 2040 report, transit fares are increasingly expensive
compared to automobile use. Transit fares in Canada have been rising faster than inflation and have
increased by 25 percent in real terms over the past decade.
Parking Supply and Price
The St. John’s Downtown Development Commission completed a Downtown Parking Study in
2009 that analysed the existing parking supply and pricing and outlined a Parking Management Plan
based on Downtown growth and anticipated parking demand. This report found that on weekdays,
on-street parking utilization peaks at 80 percent while off-street parking utilization peaks at 61
percent. On street utilization is 100 percent on the west side of Downtown during the weekday
peak. This analysis indicates that on street parking is well used throughout the Downtown area with
some capacity available on the east and in off street facilities/lots. On weekends there is ample
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