Report to / Rapport au:
Transportation Committee
Comité des transports
And Council / et au conseil
1 February 2010 / le 1 février 2010
580-2424, Ext. /
poste : 21624, Rosemary.Nelson@ottawa.ca
|
City Wide / À l'échelle de la Ville |
Ref N°: ACS2010-CCS-TRC-0006 |
SUBJECT: COSTS
FOR DIFFERENT TRANSPORTATION MODES
OBJET: COÛTS DE DIVERS MOYENS DE TRANSPORT
That Transportation Committee
consider the following motion, for recommendation to Council:
That the 2011 Budget include capital and operating information for single vehicle use, express bus, rural/suburban route, inner greenbelt transit services, pedestrian and cycling; and that this information be used to calculate the differential impact on the tax rate of the provision of these services.
Que le
Comité des transports examine la motion suivante et formule des recommandations
au Conseil :
Que le
budget de 2011 comprenne des renseignements concernant l’immobilisation et
l’exploitation d’un seul véhicule, des autobus express, des circuits ruraux et
suburbains, des services de transport en commun à l’intérieur de la ceinture de
verdure, des déplacements à pied et en vélo et que ces renseignements soient
utilisés pour calculer et comparer les répercussions de la prestation de ces
divers services sur le taux d’imposition.
This Motion was referred to the Transportation Committee by City Council on 28 January 2010, during consideration of the 2010 budget.
DISCUSSION
During the Special Ottawa City
Council meeting of 25-28 January 2010, Councillor Doucet expressed concern that
there is presently no way of calculating the hierarchy of costs or the depth of
the subsidies of providing the City’s various forms of transportation and
transit services. He subsequently
proposed the Motion contained in Document 1.
By referral Motion 82/34, Council recommended that the Motion be referred to the Transportation Committee for consideration.
CONSULTATION
No public consultation was conducted in the preparation of this report.
Comments from Transit Services
Currently, the information on the difference in funding by route type is available in the Tactical Plan, presented to Transit Committee and Council each year as a companion piece to the budget. Although the definitions outlined in the motion (express bus, rural/suburban route, inner greenbelt transit services) do not exactly reflect the route definitions used by Transit Services, the information within the Tactical Plan can be analysed to account for the figures requested by the motion.
Transit Services can discuss and provide Financial Services with further information on specific route types during the budget process, if requested.
The costs of providing infrastructure for the various
modes of transportation are already available in one of the Transportation Master Plan
background studies (Total Cost of Travel Study, 2003). The Study used 2002 City of Ottawa actual
expenditures and trip data supported by the best practices in estimating
societal costs (health, air quality, quality of life, etc.).
Given that commercial vehicles, buses, cyclists and
pedestrians use the same roadway as cars, identifying the capital and operating
cost for single vehicle, transit, pedestrian and cycling was a very complex
exercise that required substantial resources to undertake.
The total
public (government and societal) cost per passenger trip, including
construction, maintenance, land value, enforcement, unaccounted accidents, air,
noise and water pollution are:
Car
driver: $2.50
Transit
user: $1.76
Cyclist:
$0.24
Pedestrian:
$0.10
As suggested in this report, if staff only
considered the capital and operating costs in calculating the
differential impact on the tax rate for the provision of these services, the
cost would be $0.5 for a car
trip and $1.50 for a transit trip. This would clearly favour road investments over transit
since the actual public subsidy to transit is higher than that to cars. Staff disagree with this approach since societal costs need to be factored
in as well as the other indirect costs (large parking lots, width and number of
roads, sprawl, etc.). When considering
all of the automobile impacts on the way we live and the design of our cities,
transit would be clearly a better, more sustainable choice.
Since
2003, the City, through its current plans, policies, guidelines and
implementation programs, has ensured that pedestrian and cycling facilities are
included in all new and reconstructed roads. Furthermore, additional budget was
approved in 2010 budget to close the gap between planned and built pedestrian
and cycling infrastructure and provide for off-road multi-use pathways.
RURAL
IMPLICATIONS
N/A
LEGAL/RISK
MANAGEMENT IMPLICATIONS
There are no legal/risk management impediments
to the implementation of this Report’s recommendation.
FINANCIAL
IMPLICATIONS
Although
the report recommendations do not have any immediate funding implications,
staff will need to review the information requirements as proposed in the
motion with the Councillor. Depending on
the complexity involved in providing the information for the 2011 budget, a
combination of internal along with external resources may be required. Staff would propose to discuss and review the
intent of the motion with the Councillor to clarify the information
expectations and to then proceed with an analysis to determine the workload
requirements. Should additional external
resources be required to compile with the motion, staff would report back to
Committee.
SUPPORTING DOCUMENTATION
Document 1 Extract of Special Ottawa City Council
Minute, 25-28 January 2010
The recommendation of the Transportation Committee will be forwarded to Council.
MINUTES 82
25,
26, 27 and 28 january 2010
MOTION NO. 82/33
Moved by Councillor C. Doucet
Seconded by Councillor C. Leadman
WHEREAS
there is presently no way of calculating the hierarchy of costs or the depth of
the subsidies of providing the City’s various forms of transportation and
transit services;
THEREFORE
BE IT RESOLVED THAT the 2011 Budget include capital and operating information
for single vehicle use, express bus, rural/suburban route, inner greenbelt
transit services, pedestrian and cycling; and
BE IT
FURTHER RESOLVED THAT this information be used to calculate the differential
impact on the tax rate of the provision of these services.
MOTION NO. 82/34
Moved by Councillor A. Cullen
Seconded by Councillor R. Chiarelli
That
Motion No. 82/33 be referred to the Transportation Committee.
REFERRAL CARRIED