New data was released last week on Toronto’s King St. streetcar pilot project. The data demonstrates higher ridership, faster commute times and a marginal increase in profits for local businesses. While the results are promising, the future of the pilot remains uncertain.

The pilot works by restricting through traffic for motorized vehicles and prohibits left-hand turns on a busy section of King St., ultimately enabling downtown streetcars to move faster. It’s been a divisive issue since it began last November because it has made life more convenient for some people and more difficult for others.

The King St. pilot was developed to solve the growing problem of congestion in Canada’s biggest city. If you ever found yourself in Toronto’s financial district at rush-hour before the pilot started, you know that being there was a fast way to get nowhere.

The streetcar pilot seems to be changing this for active transportation users — walkers, public transit users, and bikers. So far the data suggests an 11 per cent increase in public transit ridership and a 13 per cent decrease in cars in the downtown core. It’s an innovative solution that encourages people to take transit and alleviates the terrible conditions that a few months ago were a reality for thousands of TTC users.

In an attempt to solve the problem of congestion, Toronto is also improving its citizens’ health.

Where we live determines our health. More and more, research is demonstrating that our postal code may be even more predictive of our health than our genetic code. This may seem farfetched — but what we have access to, and the conditions that we live in, shape the way we live our lives.

These elements form the social determinants of health. These underlying factors shape our behaviours and change our biology. For instance, someone who lives a five-minute walk away from a grocery store is likely going to eat healthier than someone who is surrounded by fast-food options and needs to drive 15 minutes to access fresh produce.

Last year Public Health England released a study that found 4-in-10 middle-aged adults fail to manage even one 10-minute brisk walk a month. In Canada, only 20 per cent of Canadians meet the Canadian Physical Activity Guidelines.

Though shocking, it’s understandable how this has happened. Many of us drive most places, sit at desks all day, come home and watch TV. We are surrounded by inexpensive food options that too-often present few nutritional benefits.And yet, potential solutions to improve our health are all around us.

One such solution is the King St. pilot. Transit users, on average, walk 19 minutes a day. It doesn’t sound like much, but in a work-week, that’s over an hour more than those that drive, who average only six minutes of walking a day. Over the course of a month or a year, these minutes add up to make a significant difference.

But people are stubborn; they won’t change their behaviours just because it’s better for them, and, frankly, nor would I. The solution then, is to make the healthy alternative the easier choice — which is what the King St. pilot has done.

It’s also the premise underpinning a new initiative from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research that is funding researchers to uncover how to make Canadian cities the healthiest places they can be.

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There are a few months left to the King St. pilot before a decision is made about its permanency. If greater transit access and speed leads to more people choosing transit, we need to not only keep the King St. pilot, but extend it to other areas.

Building healthy cities has many long-term benefits — for health, social well-being, and livability. Livability also increases economic growth in cities by making them attractive for businesses, interesting for tourists, and desirable for residents and those looking to relocate. There are no losers in the long-term when we make decisions that improve well-being and livability.