Public transit gets C+ report card as ridership sees massive increase in Brampton

Brampton’s public transit system is being called a “success story” but there’s still room to improve when it comes to accessibility, service hours and consistency.

The Toronto Region Board of Trade recently put out its review of transit systems across the GTA, giving Brampton a passing grade of C+. And while that may seem like a low overall mark, the report found that transit in Brampton is moving in the right direction and ridership is on the rise.

The report looked at factors like base service coverage, the number of jobs and residents within walking distance of a transit stop, and transit priority infrastructure like dedicated lanes to rate 11 cities on the list. Toronto and Mississauga scored slightly higher than Brampton with ratings of B, while only Oakville (D-), Milton (D-) and York Region (C-) scored lower.

Ridership in Brampton has skyrocketed in recent years, jumping nearly 79 per cent between 2010 and 2019 – the second-highest increase on the report behind Milton’s 135 per cent spike in users. Between Brampton Transit, Zum and GO trips, there are nearly 32,000,000 transit riders in Brampton every year making for the thrid-busiest city for transit on the list behind Mississauga (41,170,554 riders every year) and Toronto (525,470,000 riders annually).

The report called Brampton “a major transit success story” with a network of consistent all-day routes and a base service coverage between 82 and 88 per cent, but noted that the majority of residents and jobs are not within walking distance of a route running every 15 minutes all day pointing to issues with frequency.

With a moderately high on-time performance score of 72 per cent and a “spectacular” spike in ridership, Brampton received an overall score of 60 per cent. Recommendations require to get an A rating include expansion of LRT service downtown, improved linkage with transit systems in Mississauga and Toronto, and more service to Pearson Airport.

Developing transit in the city has been a priority for Brampton City Council, which has set its sights on turning Brampton into Canada’s first city with a fully electric bus fleet.

Metrolinx launched Brampton GO Train weekend service in April, and five new evening routes leaving the Bramalea GO and connecting to the University of Waterloo and three new eastbound trips in the morning from the University back to Brampton.