Public transportation systems are so much more than the buses, trains and other vehicles that bring people and goods where they need to go. When public transportation is thoughtfully planned, developed, and invested in, it has an empowering capacity that delivers shared benefits that improve the lives of individuals, the strength of businesses, and the vitality of entire communities and economies.
Well-planned and well-executed transit systems not only contribute to reduced congestion, lower carbon emissions, and safer roadways—which improves the livability of a community—they also have the power to promote social equity through enhanced mobility and independence by connecting people to centres of employment, education, healthcare, retail, and social outlets.
This is particularly impactful for individuals on lower or fixed incomes, seniors, people with disabilities, and youth who do not have access to their own modes of transportation and rely on transit for its lower costs and accessibility.
Measuring (and meeting) demand
Public transportation systems are only as good as their performance, and as a public good, public transit best serves a community when its routes and service are optimized. This begins with understanding demand, something that varies greatly from community to community. The transportation needs of a highly populated urban centre are far greater than those of a rural community, but the value of transit and the role that it serves is the same.
According to StatCan, in April 2025, urban transit ridership in Canada totalled 132.5 million trips, figures that continue to grow year over year, which is why the Canadian government is taking action to invest heavily in public transportation improvements over the next decade to ensure that necessary maintenance, upgrades, and expansions are possible to elevate service levels as demand grows.
Further to investments in new infrastructure and the maintenance of existing assets to ensure service is reliable, safe, and affordable, technology is necessary for the optimization and integration of service across local and regional transit systems and modalities to promote stronger connectivity and improved user comfort and experience.
Tech-enabled optimization
Taking a whole-network and whole-city approach is an effective transit-oriented approach to development that emphasizes intermodality and integration to achieve results. The only way this can be achieved is through the use of technology which enables the collection of valuable data sets that can inform the decision-making process. Considerations can include current travel behaviours such as patterns and preferences—distances and times traveled, routes, modes, costs, and reasons for travel—to determine how to design the most attractive public transit system.
There are several technologies that can be leveraged to optimize the costs, performance, and sustainability of transit systems. From sensors and GPS-connected vehicles to automatic fare collection systems and smart stations equipped with Wi-Fi-enabled real-time information about arrivals and departures, the advent of smart public transportation infrastructure has greatly empowered community planners who can use this valuable data to optimize routes and the user experience.
This technology affords city planners a certain degree of flexibility to adapt to incidents and delays more effectively. As passenger flows change, planners can use technology and data sets to audit service delivery and identify changes in patterns and behaviours to better predict and sustain demand and optimizing resource allocation.
Technology also supports the user experience. User-friendly apps promote seamless ticketing and payment, as well as new data streams from which information can be gathered and analysed. And programs like PRESTO, an electronic fare payment system that offers integrated ticketing at discounted prices across the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area (GTHA), the Ottawa area, and other municipalities, promote convenient local and regional travel.
Working together for greater connectivity
To better integrate the various transportation modalities, governments and employers are working closely with private sector partners to address gaps in service and improve the connectivity that keeps the community and economy running. One example is Hop In Technologies, a provider of optimized employee shuttle solutions that leverages data-driven insights with logistics to design seamless shuttle experiences that address gaps in transportation networks to ensure that employees get to work on time without a stressful commute. As the company’s website states, “We pick up where transit drops off,” with designated pick-up locations, personalized ride schedules, live shuttle tracking, and advanced ticketing systems.
The stronger the network, the greater the outcomes. The movement of people and goods is not only tantamount to a well-functioning economy by connecting people to jobs, services, and amenities; it reduces social isolation, promotes stronger civic engagement, reduces congestion and carbon emissions, and improves the overall quality of life a community enjoys.
Transit-oriented developments are becoming increasingly common in urban community development. By understanding the flow of people and goods in relation to employment, education, healthcare, retail, and other service hubs in the community, decision makers can encourage developments that maximize land use along major transit corridors to sustain and optimize growth.
The move toward 15-minute cities is an example of a comprehensive whole-city approach to planning, where the flow of public transit is reflective of a neighbourhood’s behaviours to ensure that businesses and services are proximate, convenient, and accessible to residents.
A comprehensive approach to development
By understanding the existing quality of service and usage patterns of transportation systems, planning officials can better devise strategies that improve and expand service where needed, which promotes optimal expenditures of time and money while elevating service provision in an impactful way. Transportation officials must also have a strong understanding of the spatial distribution of land, the location of the transportation infrastructure relative to services and amenities, and the traffic flows to and from these hubs which include employment centres, educational institutions, healthcare centres, and commercial areas. There must be dedicated road space and land, as well as funding to maintain and upgrade existing infrastructure where needed. Dedicated lanes for public transit and non-motorized modes of transportation, including cycling lanes and pedestrian trails, can further strengthen the connectivity and viability of these systems and support sustainability goals.
Spain has long been a leader in the provision of public transportation and is once again demonstrating why this is the case. As Paige Bennett of EcoWatch reports, Barcelona is taking sustainability to the next level through the MetroCHARGE project, which leverages regenerative braking to power trains and station amenities like EV chargers. Energy inverters installed on the city’s metro network convert kinetic energy from the braking trains into electricity that can be captured and redistributed. A third of the regenerative power is used to run the trains, while the rest can be used in other ways.
Investments like these are the mark of a healthy community and would not be possible without advanced technologies and forward-thinking leadership that understands the implications of strong transportation infrastructure on a community.
Having well-integrated local and regional transportation systems helps to improve quality of life for individuals, the livability of a community, and the strength of the economy—but it also helps to drive sustainable growth for the long-term, which should be a goal of every development-oriented community going forward.
