Anybody unaware of the serious traffic problems afflicting the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) must have just emerged from years under a rock somewhere or come from another planet.
A decade ago, my wife and I stopped attending the Canadian Opera, Opera Atelier, plus the odd concert and theatre performance – traffic on the 400 and 401 had become congested, unpredictable and hazardous.
Last summer, we returned from two days in Niagara-on-the-Lake enjoying theatre at the Shaw Festival. Traffic on the Queen Elizabeth Way (QEW) was heavy, but never actually stopped. However, the level of aggression from other drivers was so high we wondered if we would ever go again.
Unfortunately, there really is no other way to get there from Barrie.
Decades ago, when I was young and the Earth was still cooling, I owned a Triumph TR-3. It was small – like a Mazda Miata but less fancy; a motorized roller skate (think Roller Derby). As a skilled mechanic (for 1960s cars), I added a custom exhaust, bored out the cylinders, boosted the compression, balancing everything. My 2.2-litre TR-3 left Austin Healy’s (3-litre) in the dust.
Sixty years ago, my home (Montreal) was surrounded by narrow roads whose curves begged to be rounded at speed. These roads were largely empty. Leaving Montreal Island put you into sports-car paradise.
Like Toronto, Montreal’s suburbia has spread over the landscape like cancer. And spreading is the issue. Low-density suburbs are built for cars. As car ownership rose, so did congestion.
Four decades ago, our cars themselves declared “War on the Car.”
We never noticed. The “traffic gods” were stealthy. Our suburbs spawned new roads. As more roads were built, people filled them with cars.
Moreover, large, clumsy SUVs and pickup trucks crowded out mere “cars.” Despite engineering technology to improve engine efficiency and reduce emissions, these heavy vehicles burn as much fuel (and puff out as much carbon) as the Ford Galaxie, Chrysler Imperial and Oldsmobile 98 of yore.
The cost of GTA traffic congestion is huge.
The Toronto Region Board of Trade estimates congestion costs our economy $11 billion (that's billion with a ‘b’) every year. The C.D. Howe Institute, a think tank, is slightly less gloomy, rating the annual congestion cost at just $6 billion.
Recognizing the economic cost of congestion, the urban environmental damage and harm to people living in congested urban areas, some cities started to charge vehicles entering their urban core. London charges £15 per day (7 a.m. to 6 p.m.) weekdays and weekends or holidays (noon to 6 p.m.). An additional pollution charge of £12.50 per day is applied; electric vehicles are exempt. Some other British cities levy congestion charges, too.
Closer to home, New York City levies a daytime congestion charge of $15 (US) and $3.75 (US) during off-peak times.
Traffic congestion and its companion, air pollution, plagues other cities. European cities charging cars entering the urban core include Stockholm, Gothenburg, Milan and Rome.
In 1975, Singapore was first to introduce a congestion fee with flat change for unlimited entry into the congestion zone. Electronic tolls began in 1998. Authorities reckon the flat fee reduced traffic by 45 per cent and crashes by 25 per cent. This simple toll also improved average speeds. The electronic charge thinned traffic by a further 15 per cent, improving expressway speeds to 50 to 65 kilometres per hour and arterial road speeds to 19 to 31 km/h.
People might consider 19 to 31 km/h slow. I occasionally “ask” my city car (battery-electric Mini) for my average speed over a few days — 28 to 30 km/h.
Let’s take Premier Doug Ford’s “all options are on the table” at face value and examine various ways to unravel Toronto’s traffic mess.
Not all will work for Toronto. For a start, the causes of traffic jams on the 400-series highways are not the same as city street congestion. Getting Toronto traffic flowing smoothly again will require more than one action. And, of course, there may be even more ways to reduce Toronto’s congestion.
Tunnel under the 401
This one is truly a non-starter. Its cost will astonish us. It’s likely to take at least a decade to build, perhaps two. Construction is guaranteed to obstruct traffic unacceptably. It will never happen.
Forbidding left turns on arterial roads without dedicated turn lanes
Vehicles waiting to turn left at arterial road intersections without a turn lane block a lane of traffic. On most urban arterial roads, this cuts the active traffic lanes in half. Vehicles instead should be required to make three right hand turns; inconvenience for one driver speeds circulation for others.
UPS has done this for decades. Initially, drivers were instructed to avoid left turns. Now computers program delivery routes to avoid left turns. This saves millions of litres of fuel, plus it is faster and safer.
Doing this avoids annoying drivers behind the van. Some will risk entering the open lane, possibly causing an accident. It should be a standard rule for arterial roads.
Make public transit more attractive
1. Provide free Wi-Fi on all transit vehicles.
2. Keep transit vehicles very clean.
3. Where there is a nearby coffee shop, install an internet-linked sign counting down to the arrival time of the next bus or tramcar. (Visiting Oslo, I experienced this personally in 2017.) Passengers waiting for their ride in warm comfort are more likely to use the service. The coffee shop may even pay for the sign.
Make public transit faster
Dedicated transit lanes keep private vehicles from obstructing buses and trams carrying dozens of passengers. Policing would be inexpensive – cameras on a bus or tram photograph the obstructing vehicle, followed by a ticket and summary fine.
An unexpected benefit also emerges. Riding a streetcar in Budapest a decade ago, street traffic was jammed, but the trams kept moving. Then, I heard an emergency vehicle’s siren. My tram stopped, as did the others. They stopped in a “slalom-course” pattern, allowing the ambulance to zigzag to its destination at speed.
Buy back the 407 lease
Since a Highway 401 tunnel is impractical, an obvious alternative is to buy back the 407 lease. The highway wasn’t sold, just leased (for 99 years). Buying back the lease will be less costly than building a new road and could happen very quickly.
There is no point buying it back and removing tolls completely. It’s set up to collect tolls. Without tolls, the road would spoon fill to capacity. The toll should be lower than the current charge. However, the 407 buy-back must be paid for, and asking residents of Ottawa, Timmins, Windsor or Thunder Bay to pay for a road they may never use is unfair.
Charge fees for all 400-series highways in the GTA
The other 400-series highways in the GTA, plus the QEW, should bear tolls. These may be modest, but multiplied by their huge traffic, they should bring in enough to pay for the 407 buy-back with money to spare for transit projects designed to reduce traffic congestion.
The tolls on the other 400-series roads should be collected as the 407 collects them now.
To help public acceptance, vehicle-owning GTA residents (plus others on request) should receive a transponder, for free!
Toronto-to-Montreal high-speed, high-frequency rail
On Oct. 29, the federal government announced, on CBC Radio, that it would begin building a high-speed, high-frequency rail corridor linking Toronto, Montreal and Quebec City. The trains would achieve speeds of 300 km/h. But let’s assume average rail speed as 250 km/h.
This project may take a decade before even the Toronto-Ottawa-Montreal section is ready, but promises many benefits.
Travel from Toronto to Ottawa and Montreal by train would be quicker than flying. Flying is notionally faster, but passengers must arrive at the terminal hours before takeoff. Most airports aren’t near city centres but train stations are. The time required to travel to and from airports must be also be added. For distances less than around 600 kilometres, rail is quicker, more relaxing and comfortable than air travel.
Even when a rail trip takes slightly longer than air travel, people might choose the train because they know their trip to and from airports could be delayed by traffic, plus the comfort factor.
Reducing the number of short-distance flights will help traffic congestion at and around Toronto Pearson Airport. Traffic on the 401 to and through Toronto should be modestly reduced, too.
As a bonus, trains are easily electrified — no batteries needed — for carbon-free travel. Electrifying commercial aircraft may not be possible, ever.
Create a 'true' Toronto bypass
Decades ago, when the 401 was being built, the route around Toronto was labelled “a Toronto bypass.” Since many access points were provided, the 401 invited Toronto to engulf it. It became an urban expressway. Today, the bulk of its traffic moves between places within the city.
After years in Barrie with family in Montreal and Quebec, I noted that on nearing Toronto on the 400 or 401, driving became aggressive, unpredictable and dangerous.
We now travel to Montreal by driving north to Orillia, then navigating east via Bancroft, Renfrew and Ottawa. Despite being 80 kilometres shorter, the trip is slightly slower, but peaceful and safe. Traffic becomes aggressive around Ottawa, but approaching Montreal, drivers are surprisingly well behaved.
Two lanes of the 401 (in each direction) should be configured to limit Toronto access. In the east, drivers could choose “through lanes” near Oshawa, then only allow connection to the 404, 400, 427 and finally 403/410 where the “through lanes” would end.
Traffic trying to bypass Toronto could then avoid harassment hazard by aggressive locals.
Urban transit should be 'free'
Public transit systems are subsidized to keep ticket prices low. The subsidy doesn’t eliminate the costs of fare collection, accounting, policing, etc. However, “free transit” eliminates them all.
Transit vehicles could be redesigned. Buses would use both front and rear doors, perhaps adding another door to speed loading and unloading passengers. Shorter stops would allow the same size fleet to provide faster, more frequent service ... and perhaps even “pull” drivers out of their cars.
Subway and light-rail stations could be redesigned to eliminate barriers.
People will complain that would allow the homeless to ride transit systems continuously. However, you cannot solve homelessness by limiting places where homeless people can find shelter. That issue requires its own solution.
I encountered “free” transit in Missoula, Mon., where one of our daughters works. Just step into the bus, greet the driver and take a seat. A surprisingly long list of cities provide “free” public transit.
Peter Bursztyn is a self-proclaimed “recovering scientist” who has a passion for all things based in science and the environment. The now-retired former university academic has taught and carried out research at universities in Africa, Britain and Canada. As a member of BarrieToday’s community advisory board, he also writes a semi-regular column.
