In Ontario, Premier Ford has insisted on building the 413 Highway as well as the Bradford bypass. He is also talking about building a tunnel under the 401 to improve traffic flow. Well, there are flaws with those plans.
First big flaw with the plans. Cost. Currently, there is zero confirmation of cost for either project, but the 413 is expected to be between 15-20 billion dollars. The 401 tunnel could start at 100 billion and be as high as 500 billion dollars.
Second big flaw. Where the 413 would be built. The plan for the 413 sees the highway being built through protected green space.
Third big flaw. Congestion. Yes, I said it. There will be more congestion on the roads. How, you may ask? Well, it’s simple. Investing hundreds of billions of dollars in more road space means more cars on the roads and fewer people on public transit. Also, the construction will cause delays. There is no way to tunnel under the busiest highway in Canada without disrupting traffic. Also, if anything goes wrong and lanes of traffic have to be closed for an extended period of time, it will lead to even more congestion on other roads around the 401.
So, what do we do to fix the congestion issues while maintaining the current highways as is? Well, simply put, we can build transit. When I say we build transit, I mean we really build transit. If the Ontario government took the lower end of the projected 401 tunnelling cost, which is rumoured at 100 billion dollars, there could be several major transit upgrades done.
Let’s take a look at a few transit upgrades. First, upgrading the GO Bus service. GO Transit recently announced orders for two sets of buses: the first is an order of 80 buses expected to begin delivery in September 2025, and the second is for 97 additional buses scheduled for 2026-2027 delivery, as part of a new contract with MCI. These orders address fleet constraints and will provide more buses for capacity on existing routes and during train closures. But with 100 billion dollars devoted to more public transit, an order of say 500 more buses, and the expansion or construction of new garage space would be easy to do. GO Transit service has had a bad habit for many years of being built as a commuter service, although that has gone away in recent years with two-way all-day service on 5 of the 7 train lines and further expansion coming.
Adding in more bus service would get more people to the trains, but also provide new service areas. Allandale Waterfront Station in Barrie could become a North Hub for new service. A bus from Barrie could travel to Orillia. Another bus could service Midland and Penetanguishene, another could go to Collingwood and Owen Sound. From Owen Sound, there could be a bus that travels to Orangeville with connections to the bus from Orangeville to Brampton. Also in Orangeville, there could be a bus travelling to Newmarket and the East Gwillumbury GO station. That alone could improve travel in growing areas with limited transit service. Yes, some routes service those areas, but they are smaller services that run limited schedules and almost no weekend service.
The Simcoe Linx operates 6 routes that connect the Simcoe area to Barrie or Bradford on 4 routes. Those routes could continue running while providing service more locally in areas compared to GO. The other 2 routes could connect to the GO service in new areas. Route 4 operates from Collingwood to Wasaga Beach. GO could operate to Collingwood and make a connection to the Route 4 to Wasaga. Route 6 travels from Midland to Orillia and in both areas could connect to the GO bus service.
Another potential GO service from Barrie would be a bus that loops through Orillia and connects to Lindsay and Peterborough. Yes, I am aware that it would be a long bus route, but it would not be the longest bus route GO operates. I also think that a bus travelling from Whitby GO to Orillia would be of great benefit to many people, as Highway 12 gets very busy. Another bus route GO could introduce would be a bus from Owen Sound to Guelph. I also believe there are several options to modify existing routes. Such as the 15 from Aldershot to Brantford. That could be extended to Cambridge and into Waterloo. The 17 could be split into a few routes. With one part being a Hamilton to Kitchener/Waterloo via Aldershot GO, Highway 6 and the 401. Another change would be a bus running from Aldershot to Guelph Central GO. Then the portion between Guelph and Waterloo could be a third route that also extends to London via Stratford. From Aldershot, there could be a route that operates express to Brantford and then to Woodstock and London as well. All of these changes would go a long way toward reducing congestion on roads.
Another part of the 100 billion dollar budget could be to buy more 40 and 60-foot buses for the different transit systems in Ontario, as well as building additional garages. This way, there is a place to store the bus, but it allows systems to grow and expand the systems. Adding new routes and services across Ontario is not a war on the car but a way to reduce road congestion, reduce accidents and allow more people to travel more easily.
If the Ford Government really wants to improve the traffic flow on the 401, another option is to buy back the 407 and remove all the tolls on the entire length of the 407. That way, it allows more vehicles to take the 407 instead of the 401. But with any luck, transit across the Greater Toronto area as well as the Golden Horseshoe region would dramatically improve, and road congestion would improve as a result.
It is time for Premier Ford to actually focus on priorities and build what is more needed. Improve GO Trains, GO buses and local transit systems, and it will make getting around a lot easier.