When determining what makes a good transit system, there are several factors to consider.
The Seattle-based company WalkScore.com has developed an algorithm called the Transit Score. This patented measure addresses how well a location is served by public transit on a scale from 0 to 100.
The Transit Score determines the relative usefulness of nearby routes, and defines usefulness as “the distance to the nearest stop on the route, the frequency of the route, and type of route.”
The Walk Score rating for Brampton is a 48. This means that, according to WalkScore, “most errands require a car.” The website goes on to state that Brampton has “some public transportation” and is the “ninth most walkable large city in Canada.”
Here are the WalkScores of other cities similar in population to Brampton:
Surrey, BC: 51
Quebec City, QC: 49
Hamilton, ON: 51
Vancouver, BC: 78
In August of this year, the Transit Report Card of Major Canadian Regions was released. Like WalkScore, it uses specific criteria, but instead of walkability, it rates the actual transit systems that are in place. The four main criteria are revenue kilometers per service hour, farebox recovery (how well operating costs are covered by fares), operating cost per service hour, and operating cost per passenger trip.
This 2017 report rated the Greater Toronto & Hamilton Area, including Brampton Transit, GO Transit, Hamilton Street Railway, Toronto Transit Commission, and others. It gives the Greater Toronto & Hamilton Area a C rating, which is down from the B rating it received in 2016.
The report goes on to state that “decreased hours of service per capita in the region caused the dip from the previous year’s ranking. Overall though, the GTHA has the best farebox recovery of any region in the study.”
