The cost of traffic congestion in the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area is significant. In fact, a reputable study estimates that the economic and social costs of gridlock is costing Ontario’s economy $45 billion per year. 

Yet, do Ontarians want outlandish plans for solving our traffic congestion problems? Or are reasonable solutions just staring us in the face? 

We live in interesting times – in recent weeks it was revealed that the feasibility study for the Ontario Premier Doug Ford’s latest traffic congestion solution, the Highway 401 tunnel, will cost taxpayers $9.1 million. 

In a sobering report entitled “Transit over Traffic: Hard Truths for Addressing Gridlock in the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area”, Environmental Defence and Transport Action Ontario make the case for practical, no-nonsense approaches for addressing gridlock. 

The City of Toronto already gets inexpensive rapid transit through TTC’s viable, frequent and rapid bus service to the outer reaches of its municipal boundaries. This rapid transit service typically runs every ten minutes past midnight and is well integrated with the subway system. 

However, the surrounding GTHA has been left behind. Transit in these areas could be much better – by building more rapid transit lines and also inexpensive rapid transit such as running buses more frequently in the GTHA’s outer suburbs with prioritized signaling and dedicated bus lanes. This would double the commuters per hour while actually addressing congestion and lessening traffic. 

The report makes the case that the $80 billion proposed to be spent on mega-projects and mega-highways such as Highway 413, the Bradford Bypass and the 401 Tunnel could instead be used to build over 400 kilometres of light rail. That’s enough to connect Toronto and Sudbury! 

The solution to the GTHA’s congestion is getting people out of cars – not building more highways. This requires frequent, reliable transit service across the entire region. The best way to do so is to double transit service hours and frequency so people can “show up and go” without checking schedules. This can be quickly deployed by unleashing inexpensive rapid transit including rapid bus transit across the entire GTHA. 

As Premier Ford insists – Let’s Get it Done!