HLB Decision Economics Inc.
The Value Proposition for Transit Investment, Subsidy and Federal Involvement

The paper provides a methodology for estimating the value of transit in avoiding the social costs of increasing road congestion in private vehicles, providing 'affordable mobility', and raising urban 'amenity values'. Using plausible values (based on previous studies) for the marginal social costs of congestion, environmental and safety risks of private vehicle use, the methodology is applied to Canadian transit use in aggregate and to case studies of the Toronto and Montreal regions. The results suggest that aggregate national subsidies of about three times existing levels could be justified by the potential benefits. The report also considers the justification for an extended federal role in transit funding.