When it comes to Canadian roads, Toronto is in the top spot when it comes to the longest average commutes by distance.
A new study from U.K. car insurance expert MoneySuperMarket reveals Toronto has an average commute distance of 32 km on a single round trip. Ottawa narrowly beat Vancouver for second with drivers averaging 24 km per commute, and Edmonton rounded out the top five, with an average commute distance of 21 km.
“We have too many cars and not enough space,” said Matti Siemiatycki, Director of the Infrastructure Institute at the University of Toronto. “The city has grown by a million people, and there is not enough road space.”
Researchers looked into traffic speeds, commute distances, and overall congestion in over 150 cities worldwide to try to determine how much time could be saved in peak commute hours.
Siemiatycki adds carpooling, and tolls could be part of the answer when it comes to tackling the commute.
“Many of the vehicles only have one applicant, and that is adding to the capacity issue. Most people are driving by themselves, and that’s creating gridlock,” he explains. “In other cities, they are encouraging car pooling and road tolling. When you put a cost on something, people look for other alternatives.”
Some cities around the world have implemented this type of plan. London has its central Congestion Charge, while New York recently implemented a congestion relief zone in Manhattan.
But on the streets of Toronto, there are mixed opinions.
“Taking public transit is a better way in all regards, environmentally and also the volume of traffic, so I don’t think tolls is the worst idea in the world,” said one person.
“Tolls, I don’t think its going to persuade anyone from using it, its going to piss them off even more,” argued another.
For more on the research, click here.
Files from Alessandra Carneiro were used in this report