Urban public transit, July 2022
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Released: 2022-09-20
Highlights
The number of urban transit passengers in Canada continued to recover in July, albeit at a slower pace, reaching 92.3 million passenger trips.
With another bump in COVID-19 cases and an expected seasonal dip in passengers, recovery of public transit ridership in July slowed to 62.6% of its pre-pandemic 2019 level, down slightly from the 63.9% recovery in June 2022.
Ridership recovery slows
Canada's urban transit networks carried 92.3 million passengers in July, an increase of 48.6% (+30.2 million trips) from July 2021, marking the 16th consecutive month of year-over-year growth.
As pandemic restrictions were largely lifted and more employees were returning to the workplace, transit ridership continued to recover, albeit at a slower pace. Passenger volumes recovered 62.6% of the pre-pandemic July 2019 level (147.4 million passengers) compared with June's 63.9% recovery rate.
According to the Labour Force Survey, with the rise in the number of COVID-19 cases, the share of workers working most of their hours at home edged up in July.
On a monthly basis before the pandemic, urban transit typically declined by an average of around 6.6% from June to July, with more summer vacations and fewer students. However, July 2022 had a smaller-than-average decline of 4.8%, or 4.7 million fewer rides; most (89.4%) of this decrease came from Quebec and Ontario.
Finances improving but still lag
In July, transit agency operating revenues (excluding subsidies) were up 49.9% from the same month in 2021 to reach $226.1 million. While this fare-box revenue was the second-highest level earned since March 2020, it remains under two-thirds (66.1%) of the pre-pandemic July 2019 level.
Chart 1
Urban public transit operating revenue and passenger trips, monthly, 2018 to 2022
Note to readers
Data for the most recent quarter are subject to revision. The data in this release are not seasonally adjusted.
This survey collects data on operating revenue (excluding subsidies) and the number of passenger trips from a panel of urban transit companies that represents at least 75% of revenues in each province and territory. Note that the panel is adjusted annually to maintain the 75% coverage and could differ slightly from what it was in the same month the previous year.
Data prior to January 2017 can be found in Table 23-10-0078-01.
The Transportation Data and Information Hub, a web portal developed jointly by Statistics Canada and Transport Canada, provides Canadians with online access to comprehensive statistics and measures on the country's transportation sector.
Contact information
For more information, or to enquire about the concepts, methods or data quality of this release, contact us (toll-free 1-800-263-1136; 514-283-8300; infostats@statcan.gc.ca) or Media Relations (statcan.mediahotline-ligneinfomedias.statcan@statcan.gc.ca).
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