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www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20060323.CANNON23/TPStory/TPNational/
Traffic jams cost $3.7-billion a year, study says
Transport Minister says congestion causes delays and wasted fuel in nine top cities
JEFF GRAY
Traffic congestion in Canada's nine biggest cities costs the economy as much as $3.7-billion a year in delays, wasted fuel and greenhouse gas emissions, federal Minister of Transport Lawrence Cannon said yesterday.
Mr. Cannon pledged "concrete actions" to reduce that massive annual price tag for traffic jams during rush hour, which comes from a new Transport Canada study he released during a speech to a transit industry conference in a downtown hotel.
"The results show how costly congestion is, but they also show just how much more we need to do to understand it," Mr. Cannon said. "And let's be honest -- we all contribute to this problem. We drive to the video store, when we could walk. We drive to work, when we could take public transit. We even drive to the gym, when we know we should bike."
But the minister had little to say concretely about new investments in public transit.
When asked by a reporter, he said he couldn't commit to funding an extension of the Spadina subway line, which is reportedly among the plans to be announced in today's Ontario budget.
He said he was "open to discussion."
In prepared remarks, he listed public-transit money announced by previous governments.
And he repeated the Conservatives' campaign pledge to offer a tax credit for monthly transit passes, saying that the tax plan would hit the cabinet table soon.
The government has also pledged $2-billion for highway and border-crossing improvements.
Mr. Cannon said his department was also funding projects with the City of Toronto to study what is known as "intelligent transportation systems" or using computers and technology to help traffic flow.
He said the congestion study was a first step toward a standardized measurement of congestion.
His party promised during the election campaign to develop a "congestion index" to measure whether investments in roads or transit were making a difference.
The study tried to calculate the cost of congestion on expressways and other major roads in Quebec City, Montreal, Ottawa-Gatineau, Toronto, Hamilton, Winnipeg, Calgary, Edmonton and Vancouver.
Started in 2002 and conducted by private consultants, the study estimated congestion cost the economy between $2.3-billion and $3.7-billion in 2002 dollars, depending on how congestion was defined.
Setting the bar quite low, and defining congestion as any driver forced by traffic volumes to go below 50 per cent of the road's posted speed limit (50 kilometres an hour on a 100 km/h expressway), produces a calculation of $2.3-billion. Setting it higher, and declaring that drivers forced to go below 70 per cent of the speed limit are in congested traffic, produced the higher cost estimate.
Of the money burned by traffic jams, about 90 per cent represents time lost in traffic for drivers and passengers.
Seven per cent of the cost goes to fuel wasted, and 3 per cent is due to increased greenhouse gas emissions, the study says.
Its authors caution that the numbers are a rough, and very conservative, estimate. Comparing cities within the study is difficult because the data are collected differently in each city.
Nor does the study include all the economic effects of congestion, such as late deliveries, or all its causes, including accidents and bad weather.
Mr. Cannon also addressed the ailing airline industry, telling a reporter that he felt that an "open skies" deal allowing more access for Canadian airlines to the United States was a bigger priority than relaxing the current foreign-ownership rules, as the previous Liberal government had proposed.
Costs of congestion
A Transport Canada study released yesterday tries to calculate the rush-hour cost on major roads. The costs, based on 2002 data, rise according to how traffic congestion is defined.
Annual cost of congestion, 2002, $ millions.
Urban area        Definition one (fewer drivers): Cost of drivers slowed to half the speed limit or less        Definition two (more drivers): Cost of drivers slowed to 70 per cent of the speed limit or less
Toronto        889.6        1,631.70
Montreal        701.9        986.9
Vancouver        402.8        628.7
Calgary        94.6        121.4
Edmonton        49.4        74.1
Winnipeg        48.4        104
Ottawa-Gatineau        39.6        88.6
Quebec City        37.5        68.4
Hamilton        6.6        16.9
Total:        $2,270.4 millions        $3,720.7 millions
SOURCE: TRANSPORT CANADA
Traffic jams cost $3.7-billion a year, study says
Transport Minister says congestion causes delays and wasted fuel in nine top cities
JEFF GRAY
Traffic congestion in Canada's nine biggest cities costs the economy as much as $3.7-billion a year in delays, wasted fuel and greenhouse gas emissions, federal Minister of Transport Lawrence Cannon said yesterday.
Mr. Cannon pledged "concrete actions" to reduce that massive annual price tag for traffic jams during rush hour, which comes from a new Transport Canada study he released during a speech to a transit industry conference in a downtown hotel.
"The results show how costly congestion is, but they also show just how much more we need to do to understand it," Mr. Cannon said. "And let's be honest -- we all contribute to this problem. We drive to the video store, when we could walk. We drive to work, when we could take public transit. We even drive to the gym, when we know we should bike."
But the minister had little to say concretely about new investments in public transit.
When asked by a reporter, he said he couldn't commit to funding an extension of the Spadina subway line, which is reportedly among the plans to be announced in today's Ontario budget.
He said he was "open to discussion."
In prepared remarks, he listed public-transit money announced by previous governments.
And he repeated the Conservatives' campaign pledge to offer a tax credit for monthly transit passes, saying that the tax plan would hit the cabinet table soon.
The government has also pledged $2-billion for highway and border-crossing improvements.
Mr. Cannon said his department was also funding projects with the City of Toronto to study what is known as "intelligent transportation systems" or using computers and technology to help traffic flow.
He said the congestion study was a first step toward a standardized measurement of congestion.
His party promised during the election campaign to develop a "congestion index" to measure whether investments in roads or transit were making a difference.
The study tried to calculate the cost of congestion on expressways and other major roads in Quebec City, Montreal, Ottawa-Gatineau, Toronto, Hamilton, Winnipeg, Calgary, Edmonton and Vancouver.
Started in 2002 and conducted by private consultants, the study estimated congestion cost the economy between $2.3-billion and $3.7-billion in 2002 dollars, depending on how congestion was defined.
Setting the bar quite low, and defining congestion as any driver forced by traffic volumes to go below 50 per cent of the road's posted speed limit (50 kilometres an hour on a 100 km/h expressway), produces a calculation of $2.3-billion. Setting it higher, and declaring that drivers forced to go below 70 per cent of the speed limit are in congested traffic, produced the higher cost estimate.
Of the money burned by traffic jams, about 90 per cent represents time lost in traffic for drivers and passengers.
Seven per cent of the cost goes to fuel wasted, and 3 per cent is due to increased greenhouse gas emissions, the study says.
Its authors caution that the numbers are a rough, and very conservative, estimate. Comparing cities within the study is difficult because the data are collected differently in each city.
Nor does the study include all the economic effects of congestion, such as late deliveries, or all its causes, including accidents and bad weather.
Mr. Cannon also addressed the ailing airline industry, telling a reporter that he felt that an "open skies" deal allowing more access for Canadian airlines to the United States was a bigger priority than relaxing the current foreign-ownership rules, as the previous Liberal government had proposed.
Costs of congestion
A Transport Canada study released yesterday tries to calculate the rush-hour cost on major roads. The costs, based on 2002 data, rise according to how traffic congestion is defined.
Annual cost of congestion, 2002, $ millions.
Urban area        Definition one (fewer drivers): Cost of drivers slowed to half the speed limit or less        Definition two (more drivers): Cost of drivers slowed to 70 per cent of the speed limit or less
Toronto        889.6        1,631.70
Montreal        701.9        986.9
Vancouver        402.8        628.7
Calgary        94.6        121.4
Edmonton        49.4        74.1
Winnipeg        48.4        104
Ottawa-Gatineau        39.6        88.6
Quebec City        37.5        68.4
Hamilton        6.6        16.9
Total:        $2,270.4 millions        $3,720.7 millions
SOURCE: TRANSPORT CANADA