Swift Transportation
We Have a Congestion Problem. What Should We Do About it?
Finding solutions to complex problems often requires taking multiple competing points of view into consideration. It's usually not possible to completely satisfy everyone, but we can definitely make things better for everyone through smart compromises.
We have a congestion problem in Toronto. Some people claim bike lanes cause it. They may reduce the lanes available for cars, but there are other factors.
Across many models, cars have gotten 20% bigger in the past 10 years, and people have moved to larger models. This means 20% less space on the roads for cars.
Online shopping means fewer trucks at loading docks and more on the residential streets, delivering to homes, often blocking lanes as they stop.
We all recognize that travelling by car is often the fastest and most comfortable way to get somewhere.
But lets do a thought experiment: what if everyone in Toronto travelled by car, and all the lanes on all our streets were reserved for cars. It would be a nightmare! Wall-to-wall gridlock.
We need a balance between modes of travel that take less space per person, like the TTC, bicycles, and scooters. Taking a bus or bike should not be the second class way to travel. In 2023, Bike Share Toronto recorded 5.7 million rides and will break 6 million this year.
We won’t get there by asking people to sacrifice time and comfort. We will get there by:
Connecting bike lanes into a complete network.
Plowing the bike network in the winter.
Giving buses dedicated lanes on busy routes.
Increasing the number of busses making connections between neighbourhoods.
Raising the bar for cleanliness of our stations and TTC vehicles.
Taking pride in our stations, some of which were designed by world renowned architects.
We must monitor the use of different modes to make sure we are successful by trip counts. Solving traffic congestion requires constant attention, not just one-time fixes.