Ottawa’s traffic congestion rated third-worst in Canada
Construction — or the lack of it — is making Canadians’ commute worse, according to a GPS manufacturer that has declared Vancouver Canada’s most congested city.
The 2014 traffic index, released by TomTom NV on Tuesday, said the Canadian gridlock problem cost the average commuter nearly 79 hours last year, up from 77 hours in 2013.
Vancouver again ranked third in North America — just behind the notorious traffic of Los Angeles and Mexico City.
Toronto was a close second to Vancouver in the Canadian rankings, with Ottawa and Montreal taking the third and fourth spots respectively. Edmonton and Quebec City tied for fifth and Calgary had the honour of finishing last — though just being mentioned by the annual ranking is itself somewhat of a slight.
But the new study gives ammunition to municipal politicians in Metro Vancouver, who have warned residents of “crippling gridlock” that will consume the region if they don’t vote in favour of a provincial sales tax increase in an upcoming transit referendum.
The tax hike, if approved, would help finance a $7.5-billion transit expansion — including a replacement for the Pattullo Bridge linking New Westminster and Surrey.
One of the study’s authors, Nick Cohn, said one of the main factors in Vancouver’s score was the “automatic bottlenecks” at the mouths of bridges leading to the downtown core. “In Vancouver, the southern suburbs have been growing really, really quickly but the jobs are not all focused on the south,” said Cohn, a senior traffic expert at TomTom.
The study bases its ranking of 218 cities on what TomTom calls a congestion level, which is determined by comparing times when traffic is “free-flow” to peak periods. So Vancouver’s overall congestion, 35 per cent, means an average trip would take more than a third longer than if that driver was unencumbered by traffic.
During the evening rush-hour in Vancouver, commutes are 66 per cent longer, TomTom said.
Toronto’s overall congestion was 31 per cent — a four-point increase from 2013.
Cohn suggested the increase was in part due to rampant construction.
Ottawa, with a congestion of 28 per cent, saw its peak traffic during a very narrow point — leading Cohn to suggest that Ottawa’s public servant-dominated workforce was driving to work and driving home at the same time.
Calgary, with 22 per cent, and Edmonton, with 23 per cent, aren’t “hemmed in” by major bodies of water like their congested counterparts, Cohn said.
By comparison, Istanbul topped the global ranking with 58 per cent overall congestion.
“Let’s keep Canada in perspective. Canadian cities did better than cities in the U.S. and Europe,” Cohn said, before admitting that he was giving little comfort to “the person stuck on (Ontario’s) 401 and trying to get to work.”