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Traffic Jams Costing Canadian Cities Billions

4K views 34 replies 22 participants last post by  hkskyline 
#1 ·
Traffic jams cost Canada billions: report
Mike Oliveira
Canadian Press
23 March 2006



TORONTO -- Worsening urban congestion is costing Canadians billions of dollars a year and the waste is likely to get worse with a growing population, more cars on the road and the urbanization of towns, according to a new Transport Canada study.

The study is the first national analysis of congestion and estimates the cost of bad traffic in Canada's nine biggest cities -- Vancouver, Edmonton, Calgary, Winnipeg, Hamilton, Toronto, Ottawa-Gatineau, Montreal and Quebec City -- is between $2.3 billion and $3.7 billion a year.

More than 90 per cent of the waste is the value of time lost in traffic, seven per cent is the cost of fuel consumption, and three per cent is associated with increased greenhouse gas emissions.

"The results show how costly congestion is, but they also show just how much more we need to do to understand it. And let's be honest, we all contribute to this problem," said federal Transport Minister Lawrence Cannon. "We drive to the video store when we could walk. We drive to work when we could take public transit. We even drive to the gym when we know we should bike."

Congestion on the roads is especially damaging to the environment and adds to gas bills because a vehicle travelling at 20 km/h operates less efficiently and spews more pollution than when it is moving at 60 km/h, the report states.

And as expensive as today's driving conditions are, they are likely to get worse. With the national population expected to rise by 0.75 per cent annually until 2020, car ownership growing at a greater rate, and urbanization changing the landscape of the country, congestion is projected to get increasingly heavy.
 
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#27 ·
Nouvellecosse said:
It's understandable why people would think that, considering the monster highway pic in the beginning of the thread. I'm not aware of any other traditional "transit cities" with highways like that. :lol:
My intention is not to pick on anybody, as I'm sure not everyone is completely familiar with the city, but one has to understand that the 401 (in the photo) was built as a 'bypass' for Toronto, meaning that trucks, and cars who do no want to stop in Toronto, did not have to drive through the city centre. For example, GM types travelling between Detroit and Oshawa (not sure if this is a good example).

That being said, the 401 has obviously been gobbled up by all the development that has gone on in the city over the past 30-40 years but in no way can it be considered an 'inner city' expressway. Toronto only has two six-lane (3 lanes each way) higways that reach anywhere near the downtown core. The Don Valley Parkway (or Parking Lot as some call it) from the north and the QEW from the west.

Toronto is by and large still a 'transit city', at least in the downtown core. However, I don't think you can really pigeonhole Toronto to any one developmental model (nor any other city really). North America's love affair with cars and Canada's (not exclusive) tendency for building denser suburbs complete with commercial development and office space, means that commuter patterns do not follow the traditional bedroom community - CBD type. While Toronto's CBD is still very strong, Mississauga, North York, Brampton, etc. are home to many jobs, meaning that someone may live in Richmond Hill and work in Mississauga, live in Brampton and work in Scarborough, etc. It is these people that we need to get out of cars in this city. Those who live in the suburbs and work in downtown are already well served by transit.

York region's Viva is a good start, and if Mississauga is able to establish their rapid busway, it should also help. Beyond that I think that the proposed Greater Toronto Transport Authoruty really needs to be a strong organization with clout if traffic issues are to be resolved. There can no longer be a 416 vs 905 mentality in the region. The two, whether we like it or not are dependent on each other.
 
#29 ·
^A regional board would still fall short on the powers that would be required to make it work.

Municipalities as individuals and as groups cannot make laws, only the province can. Such a board would need the ability to pass legislation of some sort to be effective IMO. This in itself is a strong arguement for the Golden Horse Shoe to become it's own province. Ontario as is has to focus on too large an area to effectively focus and work out issues around the GH.
 
#32 ·
Go train isn't that frequent ...
and if your home is not close to a GO train station ...
which seems to be more common ...
it can take quite a while to get to city centre ...
and once you are there you would need to subway to places ...
i remembered taking a trip to chinatown and kensington area from Missaussaga ... it took me more than 2 hours in all ...
 
#35 ·
Toronto suburbs have city's worst traffic, staff say
CBC News
Posted: Jun 8, 2012 8:30 PM ET

City staff say much of Toronto's worst traffic congestion is in the suburbs — and that they already know the best way to fix the problem.

Coun. Denzil Minnan-Wong, chair of the public works and infrastructure committee, is asking staff to find solutions for the 10 most congested areas, most of which are in the suburbs.

Four are along Sheppard Avenue — a problem that will only get worse in the coming years as the street becomes a construction zone to build Light Rail Transit.

"I think it might take some people back to learn the suburbs are just as bad, if not worse," Minnan-Wong said.

Commuter Frank Dolat said he waits 15 minutes every day to get through the light at Bayview and Sheppard Avenues — the area pinpointed as the very worst in the city. Dolat said he even brings a stack of newspapers and magazines so he has something to read while he waits.
Sensors needed

City staff say they already have the solution.

"We're looking at systems that can adapt to real-time conditions," said Myles Currie, Toronto's director of transportation.

Except for about 200 intersections downtown, Toronto's traffic lights run on timers, taking no account of how many cars are coming from each direction.

Currie wants to install so-called smart traffic lights — with sensors built into the road — that will determine traffic volume.

"If we find one direction heavier than the other, we'll add more green time," he said.

Staff say the lights would cost about $50 million. It's not clear where that money might come from. However, a 2011 Toronto Board of Trade report said gridlock is costing the region $6 billion annually, and rising.
 
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