Advocating for Mobility as a Human Right
What Do We Do?
Research
We conduct community-based research to map available transportation, evaluate their effectiveness, and identify gaps. By testing alternative policies, we demonstrate the efficacy of interventions that enhance mobility, providing robust data to influence policy and ensure decision-makers take action.
Policy Development
We investigate innovative mobility solutions implemented in other jurisdictions to identify effective practices. Through collaboration with communities, service providers, and practitioners, we design actionable, localized policy recommendations tailored to the unique needs within the community.
Advocacy
Using insights from research and policy development, we create comprehensive recommendation packages for government and transit agencies. We advocate for the implementation of ready-to-launch policies that promote equitable transit access, directly addressing barriers faced by PEH.
Why is Public Transit Access Important?
Public transit is the most common form of transportation for people experiencing homelessness in Toronto. Yet without the ability to pay fares, many are cut off from essential destinations like healthcare, shelters, jobs, and housing opportunities.
Toronto’s only low-income transit program, the Fair Pass Transit Discount Program, remains too expensive for those experiencing homelessness. Meanwhile, shelters and service providers lack the funding to meet transportation needs, leaving too many people stranded.
With no option, unhoused riders have to risk taking transit without paying to access essential destinations. This often leads to ticketing and conflict with transit authorities, which can further complicate the process of rehousing. Since most unhoused people cannot afford transit, policing fares does little to boost transit revenue. Instead, it denies access to basic needs and creates unnecessary hardship.
At TAP, we work to create transportation access programs that remove barriers and improve quality of life for people experiencing homelessness.
We are not the first to advocate for these programs. Cities like Edmonton, Calgary, Guelph, and St. Albert already offer free or low-cost transit for people in poverty. Edmonton’s PATH program provides unhoused people with free monthly passes as part of their rehousing plans—reducing barriers to employment and housing while lowering social service costs.
It’s time for Toronto to catch up.