Transportation

The Challenge

York Region is large, covering 1,776 km² between Lake Simcoe and Steeles Avenue. Adequate transportation is essential for access to schools, job skills training, employment resource centres, workplaces, grocery stores, food banks, medical offices, hospitals, social services offices, shelters, and homes.

We are trying to get people out of poverty. And it seems like such a small thing with transportation, but that small thing is so expensive, you know… when you are in Georgina, to go to Newmarket. Newmarket is right in the middle of York region. When you are in Markham or Richmond Hill to go to a court house… honestly, just trying to get custody, or access settled, it’s very difficult. […] They don’t have that money to spend; they are waiting for everything pending. So the money they have to spend on transportation really locks them into system of poverty. Really, it does.

Many people, including clients of Alliance member agencies, struggle to access daily resources because of transportation barriers. Although it is essential to everyone, no agency is individually responsible to address the full range of transportation challenges. 

Our Solution

Transportation is named as a priority in the 2008 York Region Community Plan to Address Homelessness (PDF) and has become a collaborative project facilitated by the Alliance through Homelessness Partnering Initiatives (HPI). Specific transportation needs of homeless and at-risk people in York Region are documented in the 2008 Transportation Needs Assessment (PDF).

The Transportation Working Group is working to address some of these transportation challenges through immediate action and the development of long-term solutions. The activities of the Transportation Working Group have been based on Year 1 (2008-2009) and Year 2 (2009-2010) HPI funding. Immediate support is being provided to clients of member agencies on a pilot-basis through $38,550 allocated to 10 agencies in Year 1 and $40,000 allocated to 11 agencies in Year 2. The impact of Year 1 is documented in the 2009 Transportation Final Report (PDF).