If you spend a good chunk of your week commuting on the TTC, you might want to consider another option. Not only is the TTC notoriously unreliable, but a new study has found that the air quality in the subway stations and on trains is equivalent to the air quality in Beijing. To be clear, that’s pretty bad.
The study, which is published in the journal Environmental Science and Technology, collected airborne particulate matter from platforms and trains over three weeks in the summer of 2010 and the winter of 2011. According to TTC spokesperson Stuart Green, the research “was done at a time when [we] had already started taking steps will improve air quality on the trains and reduce certain pollutants in the underground stations.” It’s true that there are a number of new subway trains now—unless you take the Bloor-Danforth line, which is still entirely made up the old model train.
To put the TTC’s air quality in perspective, the study reports that Toronto’s subway has three times more air pollutants than Montreal’s subway system and five times more than Vancouver’s SkyTrain system. Compared to the air quality outside in Toronto on a typical day which comes in at around 10 micrograms of fine particulate matter per cubic metre, the subway platforms and trains air quality was measured at an average of 100 micrograms per cubic metre.
The study says daily TTC riders shouldn’t necessarily be alarmed, but they should be aware. TTC workers who spend eight hours a day in the trains and stations and on platforms, on the other hand, could be at risk for respiratory problems over time. The union representing subway workers is currently considering legal action and has demanded an immediate investigation by provincial health, environmental and labour ministries, and WSIB.
Toronto city councillor and TTC board member, Joe Mihevc told CTV News Channel that he’s not concerned about a class-action suit because he thinks “any court would find the TTC is doing the best that it can to mitigate any risk.” That includes improving and refurbishing heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems and possibly looking into adding platform-edge doors that “segregate the subway car from the passengers as they wait on the platforms”.
Another day, another reason to avoid the TTC and ride your bike to work.
