Christopher Hume –
It is a truth universally acknowledged that a city beset by congestion must be in need of a solution, no city more than Toronto. According to the Canadian Centre for Economic Analysis, congestion costs the Greater Toronto Area $44.7 billion annually.
No wonder gridlock here has become the stuff of urban legend. Yet through it all we have remained steadfastly opposed to any measure that might tame traffic. Clearly, Torontonians prefer to complain than change. Regardless, here are a few ideas that could reduce, if not eliminate, congestion.
Congestion Zones
As New York, Milan, Stockholm and Singapore have discovered, congestion fees are an effective way to slow the daily torrent of vehicular trips into the city. In every case, initial resentment was quickly replaced by unexpected levels of approval. As a Stockholm taxi driver said at the time, getting around in the congestion zone was never easier.
Road Tolls
Yes, road tolls. Specifically, highway tolls. Even Americans pay to cruise many interstate highways; Canadians should too. The objective of transit planning is not, as Premier Doug Ford thinks, to accommodate more traffic, but to reduce it. A simple measure to accomplish that is to make drivers pay. In other words, shoppers would make one trip rather than three.
Better Public Transit
Sounds obvious, but unfortunately Toronto has made a mess of public transit. The Finch West LRT, which opened in December to instant failure, is just the most recent in a long line of fiascos. The now infamous Eglinton Crosstown is finally said to be ready to open, but only after 15 years and $13 billion.
The rest of the service lurches along slowly, painfully, unreliably and more dangerous than ever. Auto dependence, chronic underfunding and abysmal management have left passengers choosing the TTC only as a last resort.
Clear Streets
Remove all parking from main city arteries. We know, we know, shopkeepers will scream bloody murder – but they’re wrong. Congestion isn’t good for business.
On local neighbourhood roads with street parking, permits should be priced according to vehicle bulk. Now, owners of small subcompacts pay the same fee as those with oversized SUVs that use twice the space. That’s neither fair nor efficient. Size matters.
Toronto Cops Are Flops
Other than media cops who natter on endlessly about the usual driving school stuff, local police seem conspicuously absent from traffic control. Except for handing out speeding tickets, cops appear reluctant to make their presence known. Perhaps they could make themselves useful by taking back the streets and bringing civility to the GTA’s notoriously bad drivers.
Trucks Be Gone
Tractor-trailers, dump trucks, cement trucks and anything with more than four wheels have no place on city streets. It’s that simple. Let them unload their goods on the edge of town and transfer them to smaller, city-sized vehicles. As the police like to tell us, safety first. People before profit.
On-Time Delivery
Anyone who has visited, say, Kensington Market, during daylight hours knows that traffic there is invariably blocked by delivery trucks. They tend to be big and the streets small. The result is terminal gridlock.
Other cities deal with this by restricting drop-off and pickup hours to the early morning, typically from 6 to 10 a.m. After that, streets are for people.
People Power
Speaking of Kensington Market, and similar neighbourhoods across the city, the time has come to pedestrianize. In a consumer culture, people expect shopping to be an activity that goes beyond mere spending. It must be enticing, entertaining and engaging. The loudest complaints come from – who else? — local shopkeepers, a group that should know better. The connection between pedestrians and profit has been confirmed time and time again around the globe.
Taking the Plunge
Car-pooling. It may sound a bit Sunday school, but its potential is enormous. Given that the vast majority of cars on the road – an estimated 85 per cent – have one occupant, the need is huge. Now though, the only enticement to sharing the ride are a few HOV lanes on the QEW and some 400-series highways. Poolers should be rewarded with toll exemptions and priority parking.
Speaking Truth to Traffic
Last year, Toronto hired its first “traffic czar.” Sounds promising, but the process took fully eight months, a clear sign of a city administration as congested as its traffic. Lacking a sense of urgency, let alone purpose, solving gridlock will remain ever beyond our capacity. And even when the city does something useful – speed cameras, bike lanes – the province steps in to turn back the clock. In Canada, congestion is protected by the constitution.
