Toronto Looks To Unblock Traffic With New Transit Options

OTTAWA, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 25th Nov, 2016 ) - car traffic in Canada's largest metropolis is a "growing nightmare," and the only remedy is to get people out of their cars and using alternate transportation, Toronto Mayor John Tory said Thursday.

"First and foremost, Toronto needs to expand its transit network," he told a news conference. "Traffic is a growing nightmare," he said, "and the number-one fix is to give people more transit options so they can get out of their cars." Greater Toronto is the fifth-largest city in North America and the fastest-growing region in Canada, with a population projected by the Ontario government to increase by 2.8 million, or 43 percent, to nearly 9.5 million by 2041.

It is not the only Canadian city struggling with increased traffic congestion but it is arguably the worst-hit. Including adding subways and buses, several cities have encouraged cycling -- even in the dead of winter.

Mayor Tory proposed introducing tolls on two major freeways that connect downtown to sprawling suburbs, constructing new subway lines and commuter train links, as well as building up the city's already vast bus and streetcar network over the next two decades.

He said about Can$33 billion (US$24 billion) is needed over 20 years for these projects as well as road maintenance. Reactions were swift and acute, but mixed. A Can$2 (US$1.50) toll on both the Gardiner Expressway and Don Valley Parkway would raise about Can$200 million (US$150 million) annually, according to the city.

Nearly half the motorists who use the two main thoroughfares are not residents of Toronto proper and should help pay for road and public transit infrastructure costs through tolls, Tory said.