02/2023
Published on CBC
Written by Bobby Hristova
Drivers in some of Canada’s major cities spent an average of roughly 144 hours in rush-hour traffic last year, according to new data from location technology company TomTom.
The global report, released last week, shows Toronto and Vancouver were the two worst cities in Canada, the third and fourth worst in North America and 30th and 31st worst worldwide when it came to time spent driving in traffic, with 199 hours and 197 hours respectively.
Globally, London, U.K.; Bengaluru, India; and Dublin, Ireland were the three worst cities globally with 325 hours, 260 hours and 277 hours stuck in rush hour traffic, respectively.
Ten other Canadian municipalities — Winnipeg, Montreal, London, Halifax, Edmonton, Ottawa, Hamilton, Calgary, Kitchener-Waterloo and Quebec — were included in the report, which analyzed drivers’ average travel time based on a one-way 10-kilometre commute.
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More roads ‘doesn’t solve the problem’
Leslie Woo, chief executive officer of civic engagement non-profit CivicAction, said the amount of time people are spending in traffic is “tragic.”
Woo said the key to fixing it is community consultation with a diverse set of voices, especially given how the pandemic impacted people’s habits and trust in government. She added leaders need to be on the same page, too.
“Money alone is not going to solve this problem, or rather, money spent in the same places that we’ve always spent it is not going to solve it,” she said.