Traffic moves through the financial district in Toronto on Sept. 8, 2023.Andrew Lahodynskyj/The Canadian Press
The City of Toronto has released a plan to manage traffic congestion through increased fines, better construction strategies and improvements to public transit, as it seeks to address gridlocked streets that have become a major irritant for residents.
The city released a two-year strategy on Friday that will be considered by city council in the coming weeks. The plan focuses on using automation as well as heftier penalties for builders and those violating traffic rules.
Toronto is among the worst congested cities in North America. The city is also North America’s busiest city in terms of construction, with more than 250 cranes currently dotting the skyline.
“You see people parking illegally, all the streetcars are backed up, all the people honking,” said Mayor Olivia Chow at a news conference. “It’s just maddening – we want to speed up the construction and have better co-ordination of construction and improve enforcement against people who disrupt the rules.”
The report identified construction work as a key cause of congestion, making up 47 per cent of road closings. Utility work accounted for 38 per cent of all road closings.
“A critical component of the work we do is how we plan and deliver the construction,” said Jennifer Graham Harkness, the city’s chief engineer and executive director. “How can we schedule the work such that contractors get in and get it done as quickly as possible?”
The plan calls for the city to review construction methods that could minimize when such work forces road closings, including reviewing what projects are deemed “emergency utility work,” while increasing fees for construction delays.
To encourage faster completion of construction projects, the report recommends new and higher fees for builders – including a fee of $76.51 for each application for a temporary street occupation permit and daily fees for every day of delay.
The report cites measures announced in July to speed up construction of the Gardiner Expressway, which include round-the-clock construction and lower noise-limit thresholds. The plan identifies new projects across the city that would benefit from similar strategies, such as construction on University Avenue, Queen’s Park Crescent and Harbord Street.
Roger Browne, Toronto’s director of traffic management and transportation, said that includes looking at technology to suppress construction noise that would allow crews to work longer hours.
The report also focused on tougher enforcement, with the city recommending more traffic-enforcement officers and an increase in fines for stop-and-stand violations during weekday rush-hour periods from $190 to $300, in addition to a recent increase in fines for blocking intersections. The report recommends increasing the use of dashcams on police and public-transit vehicles to monitor traffic violations.
The report also pushed for using artificial intelligence and technology, with the city announcing the launch of a new traffic-monitoring dashboard for public access.
“Recognizing the frustration people have, on our part we’re doing everything we can to provide better information for Torontonians to make their decisions more effective,” Mr. Browne said.
Giles Gherson, president and chief executive officer of the Toronto Region Board of Trade, said that the report is a good start, but that more needs to be done – and much sooner.
“I’m not saying this is hitting an elephant with a fly swatter but I’m saying there needs to be more … this is an $11-billion crisis,” he said. “There are things that needed to be done frankly ages ago.”
Mr. Gherson said his main concern was with the city’s intention to explore congestion charges, a recommendation in Friday’s report that he believes to be premature.
“I think congestion charges are unfair and highly disruptive when the alternatives are not there,” he said. “You’re saying, ‘okay now we have a congestion charge. But what if the subway doesn’t come and serve my neighbourhood?’ "
Moreover, Mr. Gherson believes that the city has focused too much on discouraging traffic through fines and penalties.
“We also need incentives,” he said. “Incentivizing overnight deliveries for example. It could be a financial incentive or a tax break.”
Shauna Brail, director for the institute of management and innovation at University of Toronto Mississauga, said the congestion plan is a positive sign that the city is acknowledging the scale of its traffic problem.
“It’s an important signal the city, and particularly the mayor, has sent that the congestion challenge we’re experiencing in Toronto is not acceptable, not appropriate,” she said. “We’re at a level that’s destructive to productivity and quality of life.”