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Unable to find regular employment, many newcomers, often young Indian men like him, have flocked to the gig economy, picking up jobs delivering food.

“You just need a bike and an Uber account, and you can start making money,” said Bedi, a 21-year-old from Punjab who lives in Mississauga.

Public transit struggles with food delivery bikes

But in a job where density is king, making money requires making your way downtown. And with the growing number of food delivery couriers, finding room on public transit for their clunky two-wheelers has become a struggle, and .

On a recent evening, the Star watched a mad scramble among couriers at Union Station, who — as soon as their train’s platform was announced minutes before departure — quickly piled their bikes on elevators and dashed to secure a coveted spot.

It’s a scene repeated every day, but which seemed to come to a head last month, after Beyoncé played Rogers Centre. Videos and photos from late that Saturday evening show the final trains back home due to increased demand and safety concerns. Some stayed at Union Station overnight.

(Metrolinx, the provincial agency that runs GO Transit, said it offered to store bikes overnight and shuttle couriers home by bus. “We did not receive uptake on this offer,” a spokesperson told the Star by email.)

Metrolinx adapts to delivery worker influx

The influx of bike-riding workers shuttling between the suburbs and Toronto’s core has swelled so much in recent months that Metrolinx has had to adjust its operations in order to accommodate what one employee called the regional transit system’s new “bread and butter.”

GO staffing and service changes have also thrown a spotlight on how private companies like food delivery apps rely on publicly funded infrastructure to fill the gaps in their low-cost business models.

Though exceptions are sometimes made, GO Transit officially allows only two bikes per car to ensure passengers can safely enter and exit the train. Many couriers now arrive to the station early with hopes of finding space, or else risk getting left behind.

In short, “there are too many bikes,” said Bedi.

In response to increased courier traffic, Metrolinx told the Star it had made several changes, including: adding occasional trains along the Kitchener line, a popular route for food delivery workers that connects Union Station to Brampton, Mississauga, Guelph and Kitchener; doubling bike capacity on select trains; and increasing staff on platforms to ensure bikes don’t exceed the coach limit.

Bedi, who delivers for more than one company, said he commutes earlier to avoid the rush of couriers who typically arrive downtown late in the morning and head back to the suburbs late at night.

When he first started delivering last September, he said it wasn’t as hard to find a spot for his bike. He attributes the recent increase in delivery workers to Canada’s decision to lift the 20-hour weekly work cap for international students last November, a policy which, unless extended, will expire at the end of 2023.

Metrolinx looks for help from food delivery apps

Metrolinx said it had also contacted companies like Uber Eats, DoorDash and Skip the Dishes “to inform them of the issue and of our policies” with hopes to eventually “partner with them on positive solutions that will address these challenges.”

But Corey Mintz, author of “The Next Supper,” doubts the private sector will step in.

“There’s no law that says if you create more traffic you have to build more roads,” said Mintz, who’s tracked the rise of food delivery apps.

According to him, so-called “disruptive technology” leaders like Uber and Airbnb — purveyors of what he calls — depend on infrastructure and resources they don’t have to finance, such as restaurants, cellphones, vehicles and public transit, as part of their business model.

In the case of the food delivery couriers, that’s resulted in the overcrowding of GO trains with bikes and the couriers who use them for work.

Mintz also pointed out that the apps also rely on “underemployed people willing to work without the benefits, job security or safety” traditionally associated with regular employment.

In separate statements, Uber Eats and DoorDash contested Mintz’s assertion, saying that food delivery work appeals to those who enjoy independence and flexibility.

Though DoorDash said it was “committed to continue working with policymakers, transportation advocates, community leaders, and other stakeholders,” neither it nor Uber Eats said whether it planned to partner with Metrolinx to solve the problem of the overcrowded trains. Skip the Dishes did not respond.

Low-income workers’ migration a fixture in large cities

The daily migration of low-income workers from the suburbs to serve a more affluent clientele in the urban core is a fixture of most international cities, said Mintz, and it’s unlikely to disappear in Toronto, where housing costs continue to soar.

But Metrolinx and delivery workers seem to be in agreement on how to fix the overcrowding: introduce dedicated bike coaches on the Kitchener line.

However, couriers will have to wait until the fall when Metrolinx’s fleet of bike coaches — currently used by sightseers along the Niagara corridor, whose busy season is soon ending — will be redeployed to the Kitchener line. The transit agency said it’s also working to procure more dedicated bike coaches, with e-bikes in mind.

Crowded train leads to missed income

For now, some couriers wait hours, watching several trains pass, before they can board, according to Vivek Dharmin, a 20-year-old Uber Eats courier and computer programming student. He said he once lost five hours of work because he couldn’t nab a spot.

Dharmin, who came to Canada in May from India, originally expected to work somewhere like McDonald’s, but food delivery became his only option because of a .

So far, he’s ambivalent about his new home. “It’s kind of good,” a smiling Dharmin said after arriving at Union Station one recent morning. “Not as good as I expected.” Someone had just stolen a bike he had recently bought for work. An exception among his peers who mostly ride e-bikes, Dharmin said he can’t afford to buy or rent one like Bedi.

Both hope they won’t be in the delivery game for long.

Food couriers look for better jobs

Bedi wants to find a job in the trades, one that offers consistent pay and would help him qualify for permanent residency. With so many people eating out during summer, he said he often makes less than minimum wage: only $100 a day, minus the cost of transit (about $11 per day), and renting his e-bike ($200 per month).

Dharmin’s not so sure he’ll stick around at all. “I think I’m going back to India,” he said. “I’m not going to stay here.” There are too many people in his home country, he added, but you can easily find a job.

For now, he pays $400 a month to live in a shared Brampton apartment.

In Mississauga, Bedi splits a bedroom with a cousin in a shared apartment that houses five. He said his rent comes to $500 each month. Each is paying far less than the average asking rent for a room in a shared unit in Toronto, according to and Urbanation, a real estate data analysis firm.

As for living in Toronto, Dharmin is clear: “It’s too expensive, man.”