A report card comparing six major transit regions in Canada ranks Metro Vancouver’s TransLink-run system second after Montreal.

Using data collected from the Canadian Urban Transit Association, transportation researcher Nathan Pachal and urban planner Paul Hillsdon gave Montreal an A+ and Vancouver an A largely because they are the most efficient at generating revenue and see the most demand compared to other major cities.

The report did not look at how long people wait for a bus or gauge public confidence in how TransLink is operated, but rather analyzes overall measures of efficiency.

The 2015 Transit Report Card, conducted by South Fraser OnTrax, an advocacy group for sustainable transportation, evaluates the services provided in the regions of Metro Vancouver, Edmonton, Calgary, Ottawa-Gatineau, Greater Toronto and Hamilton, and Greater Montreal. It looks at indicators such as distance travelled per hour, operating costs, and passenger trips per hour.

Vancouver received high marks for distance travelled because SkyTrain operates at a faster speed over a larger service area than other rail services in Canada,

But it also received a C for operating costs per hour. At $176.82 per hour, TransLink routes are the most expensive to run of the six regions. By comparison, Toronto is $148.54 per hour, while Montreal is $170.14.

But despite the low mark for operating costs, the report found that TransLink generates a higher amount of revenue from user fees and sees the most demand compared to other transit regions.

One of the indicators in the report was fare recovery. A higher percentage means that a higher portion of direct operating expenses are covered by transit users’ fares. The remainder of funding from transit comes from taxation. The report found Vancouver had a 57 per cent fare recovery, compared with 50 per cent for Montreal and 44 per cent for Edmonton. Toronto was higher at 67 per cent.

TransLink’s passenger trip intensity, which compares the number of passengers with the number of hours in service, was also the highest, with the report finding that Metro Vancouver has “the most productive transit service in Canada.” It also had the most revenue kilometres per hour at 24.9 kilometres.

ticrawford@vancouversun.com

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