Traffic gridlock is getting worse. How do we fix it? Brian, October 7, 2024October 7, 2024 Gridlock is a big problem, that has only become worse since the end of the pandemic. Currently provincial governments are coming up with lots of ideas to improve traffic flow. Recently Ontario premier Doug Ford announce a plan to tunnel under the 401 from Brampton to Scarborough. He also said he was considering a buyback of highway 407, to help the congestion from the 401. The buying back of the 407 for sure is a good idea. Especially when tolls are removed, because it will allow vehicles to get across the region much faster, and it will allow for a much better transit network using the highways. But let’s not stop there. There are other pressing needs, such as improving public transit in the GTA. But they are not the only area facing a gridlock crisis. Metro Vancouver is growing, fast. There also needs to be major improvements to the roads out there. With an election coming up soon in BC, current premier David Eby is promising, that if re-elected he promised to build SkyTrain’s Broadway Subway extension all the way to the University of B.C., start building toward rapid transit to the North Shore and add commuter rail services in the Fraser Valley. B.C. Conservative Leader John Rustad announced Thursday, a list of campaign promises to “get B.C. moving” that include widening Highway 1 to six lanes all the way to Chilliwack, extending SkyTrain to Newton in Surrey, and expanding the Pattullo Bridge replacement to six lanes. Those are both good ideas and it will be up to the voters to decide what is the best option. But my opinion is both are lacking critical transit upgrades. Same with Doug Fords announcements. If I were in charge and was able to buy back and remove tolls on the 407, I would make requirements that all transport trucks that are originating in the US coming into Canada through Sarnia or Windsor, and proceeding east of Toronto, would be required to take the 407 instead of the 401. Same with trucks starting in Windsor or London or Woodstock. For those vehicles I would mandate that they take the 403 to the 407 and divert across the north end of the GTA. For trucks starting in the Kitchener or Guelph area, or even in Mississauga or Brampton, they take the 407, and from there either take the 412, 418 or 115 down to the 401, or for the trucks going into Peterborough they could go north on the 115 from the 407. It would reduce so much congestion on the 401 and make it a lot easier for those that are commuting into or out of Toronto. By improving the road network, it would be time to improve train service on GO transit. Currently there are a lot of plans to extend trains to operate more often. To make that happen there are currently a lot of improvements along the GO Train corridors. Projects to add tracks, rebuild or expand or even relocate stations, add parking, and even improving and upgrading the signals. Improving GO Train service would allow GO Buses to be freed up to serve busier corridors or underserved areas. In BC widening the highway to Chilliwack could allow for more bus service on the 66 Fraser Valley Express routes, which would be a boost for public transit in that area. The Fraser Valley has grown so much in the last several years and there has been very little improvements to public transit. In fact the West Coast Express trains still only run 5 times in the morning from Mission and 5 times in the afternoon from Waterfront station, Monday to Friday. That is a very underserved train line, and having more service and more feeder service to and from the trains would be much better. It would allow for the region to gain much better transit and reduce road congestion. Currently I feel all levels of government need to come together to build new transit lines while also making road upgrades. By doing both of those, traffic congestion will go down. But it takes both things to make it happen. Especially transit by opening up cross system integration. If not merging transit systems, there should be route integration so 2 or 3 companies could operate 1 route, so it can run more efficiently. It could operate similar to the 185 Dixie express route that both Miway (Mississauga) and Brampton transit used to run, or the 77 Finch station to highway 50 route that was operated by both YRT and Brampton. More systems doing that allows for better service on corridors. It also allows for better quality transit. Let me know in the comments what your thoughts are. Related National