Jiro Istanboulian
A Spatial Analysis of Public Transportation: A Demand Driven Approach to Determining Need for Subway Development across the Toronto CMA © 2011
The purpose of this study is to determine which geographic spaces across the Toronto Census Metropolitan Area (CMA) have the greatest level of demand and need for subway development. The research is conducted by collecting demographic data containing geographic components, specifically, at the census tract level. These variables are entered in the Need Index (NI) model. This model measures the magnitude of need for public transportation services across a spatial unit. Higher index values indicate that there is greater need for public transit service. The results clearly show that the downtown region of Toronto which contains the highest employment, job and population densities has the highest demand levels for subway development. The top fifty census tracts with the highest demand are primarily located along Queen Street and Don Mills Road. Therefore, it is most appropriate to develop new subway lines parallel to these streets.