Transportation Support Survey

The City of Toronto’s Shelter Standards require shelters to offer transportation support (ex. tokens, PRESTO tickets, taxi chits, rides in an organization vehicle, etc.) when referring or transferring clients to other supports. Shelters are given funding to provide transportation for these trips. Providing additional transportation support is up to the discretion of shelter management, and is often limited by lack of funding. Many shelters lack the funding necessary to supply these supports, leaving clients without the transportation needed to access employment, healthcare, housing opportunities, and other support services.

There is currently no research showing what transportation resources are available at support services in Toronto. This knowledge gap prevents us from understanding whether clients of support service organizations have access to adequate transportation to meet their daily needs. As a result, we are also unable to effectively advocate for the expansion of funding to address gaps in transportation supports. 

To close this knowledge gap, TAP has partnered with the City of Toronto’s Poverty Reduction Strategy Office to distribute a survey to all social service organizations serving people experiencing homelessness or imminent housing insecurity in Toronto. This has included all organizations within the Toronto Shelter Network, the Toronto Drop-In Network, all Toronto Local Immigration Partnerships, the Violence Against Women Network, and the Toronto Mental Health & Addictions Supportive Housing Network. 

This survey is looking to answer the following questions:

  1. What transportation supports (e.g TTC tokens, PRESTO tickets, PRESTO passes, taxi chits, handi-transit assistance, ride in an agency vehicle, cash for travel, etc.) are available for clients of community health and social service agencies across Toronto?

  2. How does the availability of these resources differ between types of social service agencies?

  3. How do agencies fund these supports? And how much are they spending annually or per client?

  4. Are clients’ transportation needs being met or unmet by the transportation resources that are currently available?

Survey findings will be published in the coming months.