Thu, 2012-02-16 11:07
The TTC creates jobs in a number of ways, not least by providing salaries to its employees who then spend that money on goods and services in the local economy. The TTC also buys local goods and services – for petroleum products, electricity, rolling stock, spare parts, electrical supplies, computer-related products and financial services.
For every dollar spent on the new Sheppard line – the first new subway line in 20 years – two dollars have been invested by the private sector in related development.
A study by the BC Treasury Board found that transit investment creates three times more jobs than the same expenditure on general automotive expenses.
According to a Quebec study of the economic benefits of transit to Montreal “for every $10 million in expenditures, public transit generates 1.7 times more employment and 2.5 times more added value than private transport by car.”
U.S. study found that every $10 million invested in transit capital created 314 jobs, provided sales gains to businesses of $30 million and a saving to the transportation system of $15 million. The overall benefit-to-cost ratio can be as high as 9-to-1.