Andrew Mayer’s frustration with Toronto traffic is a perfect example of what residents and visitors deal with every single day – non-stop bedlam.
The Kitchener man was supposed to run in Sunday’s Toronto Waterfront Marathon but didn’t make it to the starting line due to traffic.
“It’s kinda silly to block it off in such a way that you can’t even get across town,” Mayer told City News in an interview Sunday.
He had been trying to make it to a parking garage near Roy Thomson Hall, it was a parking spot he had pre-paid for through the marathon but couldn’t make it due to multiple road closures. He gave up on joining the marathon when he still couldn’t get to the parking spot by 8:15 a.m., which was 15 minutes later than his start time.
Mayer, a man participating in the race, wondered by there wasn’t better planning around road closures.
That’s the kind of question that I and many Toronto residents ask on a daily basis, never mind just when there is a marathon on. Toronto’s road closures, congestion and traffic problems are becoming legendary and that’s not good for the city, our reputation or keeping visitors coming back.
“What’s up with the traffic in Toronto?” movie star Tom Cruise asked in an interview with eTalk last year.
The clip got people talking as Cruise joked about the frustration of getting around this city. It’s not a joke though, it’s a real problem and one that gets all the wrong kind of headlines.
“Traffic’s too bad in Toronto, I’m walking to the venue,” Niall Horan said ahead of a concert at Scotiabank Arena in June.
The One Direction alum and solo pop sensation recorded himself on video walking under the Gardiner “Expressway” to get to the arena. In July, it was Australian IndyCar driver Lochie Hughes telling a news conference that he too had been stuck in Toronto traffic.
“I’m super happy to be here in Toronto,” Hughes said. “I got stuck in traffic as well, so actually rented a bike to get here in time and then ran the rest of the way.”
The impact on our economy and our daily lives from the endless gridlock is staggering.
The annual cost of congestion to our economy is estimated at $11 billion. That’s a mind-blowing figure that is hard to comprehend or relate to in our daily lives.
One simple example given to me recently by a business owner was that operating one of his trucks costs about $50 per hour, plus about $50 per hour in wages, taxes and benefits for the driver. That means for every hour that one of his trucks sits in traffic, it costs $100 and there is no benefit to anyone, just added cost.
That truck could be delivering cement for the new homes being built, it could be taking fresh produce to your local grocery store, it could be your Amazon package. The bottom line is that you, and me, and everyone else will pay more because that driver needs to be paid to sit in their truck not moving for an hour.
Beyond the economic costs, there are also the personal costs in terms of how traffic impacts the way we live.
Recent polling conducted in the GTA by Ipsos for the Toronto Region Board of Trade (TRBOT) shows that traffic congestion is seeing many people skip routine tasks and think about leaving the area.
More than half of respondents, 53%, say they have thought about leaving the area due to traffic and congestion, a figure that rises to 59% in younger respondents aged 18-34. Meanwhile, 42% say they have avoided going shopping or visiting a restaurant and 31% say they have skipped seeing family or friends.
It’s costing us money, it’s increasing stress and frustration, it’s making people think about leaving and we are skipping visits with loved ones.
What more do we need to see to understand that congestion needs to be addressed?
The answer isn’t just building more transit, as too many politicians will say. It’s about finding a balanced approach that realizes people do need to drive and will continue to drive.
That Ipsos polling for TRBOT found that 68% said the problem with congestion is that there is “too much construction at the same time and mismanagement of construction schedules.” Three in four support 24/7 construction to ease the pain of roadwork, something the city has not really embraced despite the rhetoric.
We need tangible solutions to this very real problem. That starts with ending the ideological war on the car being waged by Toronto City Hall. It means ending the constant expansion of bike lanes into already congested streets, and it means having someone at City Hall responsible for construction planning so that all arteries in a given area aren’t ripped up at the same time.
Serious problems require serious solutions. Time to get to work.