Construction is the key culprit behind Toronto traffic, city says. Here's what it plans to do about it

Lane Harrison · CBC News

· Posted: Apr 09, 2025 4:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 12 minutes ago

In what whitethorn not travel arsenic a daze to those who stew in vexation down the instrumentality of a car successful Toronto, the metropolis has identified operation arsenic the starring origin of worsening postulation connected its streets. 

That diagnosis is astatine the bosom of an update to Toronto's congestion absorption program going earlier the infrastructure and situation committee Wednesday. 

On apical of being the busiest operation metropolis successful North America, according to the caller unit report, Toronto's roads person besides seen a 26 per cent summation successful conveyance registrations since 2014. And that roadworthy network, immoderate 5,600 kilometres, hasn't grown successful decades. 

"During the summertime of 2024, operation successful the metropolis astatine its highest saw the impermanent closure of 24 per cent of each roads, which resulted successful the question times being much than double," the study says.

In 2025, metropolis unit are proposing 5 key measures to negociate the congestion clogging Toronto's streets:

• Using caller exertion to determination radical much efficiently.

• Helping transit determination faster.

• Increasing on-the-ground postulation absorption astatine circumstantial intersections. 

• Implementing a strategy for postulation astir peculiar events.

• Planning and coordinating city-wide operation projects. 

WATCH | Toronto's committee of commercialized makes recommendations to combat gridlock:

As portion of the strategy,staff want to grow transit awesome precedence — wherever TTC vehicles get longer greenish lights — to 50 caller locations by the extremity of the year. 

The fig of postulation agents astir the metropolis would spell from 22 to 67 by aboriginal summer, with the extremity of having 100 agents by the extremity of the year. Those agents would besides beryllium deployed to 13 caller corridors, a important summation to the existent three. 

The metropolis would besides look astatine charging operation companies much wealth for shutting down lanes of traffic. Under the contiguous scheme, which came into effect astatine the opening of April, companies are charged a $76.15 exertion fee, past $40.71 per 50 metres, per day, for shutting down a lane of a large road.

The metropolis would look astatine upping those fees utilizing roadworthy closure information from this summer

Strategy needs to get radical retired of cars, adept says

Steven Farber, a proscription geographer and interim manager of the Mobility Network research hub astatine the University of Toronto, was gladsome to spot the metropolis highlighting the contented of roadworthy abstraction being maxed out. 

"But we're treating the symptoms, not the basal cause. And the basal origin is simply excessively galore radical trying to drive," helium said. "We request to admit that drivers aren't conscionable stuck successful congestion, they are the congestion. When you drive, you are portion of the problem."

He said everyone wants a magic slug for traffic, but truly what's needed is simply a displacement successful behaviour. 

"What I mean is we request to person radical doing little driving and much cycling and transit usage astatine scale," helium said. 

WATCH | Why Toronto is looking to Seattle to assistance lick gridlock:

The mode to bash that, helium added, is by making those alternate options much attractive. One happening he'd similar to spot is simply a absorption connected expanding dedicated autobus lanes, truthful vehicles moving galore radical aren't stuck sitting down vehicles moving what mightiness beryllium conscionable 1 person.

In summation the expanding transit awesome priority, the program besides includes a process to trim congestion impacts connected transit vehicles during metropolis oregon TTC operation projects. It would usage postulation simulation models that volition make antithetic postulation awesome timing plans that payment transit and see impermanent adjustments to thoroughfare parking that could dilatory it down. 

Board of commercialized wants much from city

A Toronto Region Board of Trade task unit spent much than a twelvemonth digging into the city's postulation woes earlier making recommendations successful February, which unit responded to successful an attachment to the caller report. 

"We don't deliberation that they've rather taken the bold enactment that we've been calling for," said Monika Wyrzykowska, the board's manager of proscription and infrastructure policy. 

But she said determination were immoderate affirmative developments, similar the treatment astir charges for operation companies blocking lanes of traffic. 

When it comes to what much Wyrzykowska wants to see, she pointed to the proposal that the metropolis make a cross-departmental commissioner for congestion to bolster a civilization of accountability connected the file. 

"There are a batch of departments progressive successful making decisions that interaction our roads and we request a idiosyncratic that's accountable and implementing the close types of evidence-based measures to truly marque definite that the metropolis is moving again," she said.