Traffic Mayhem in Toronto
I know a thing or two about traffic in this City. I drive from Richmond Hill to Liberty Village every day. The 404/DVP combo is my poison of choice…and poison it is. I’ve been too cities around the world and the only place I can say i’ve experienced worse traffic is in LA. Having been to Germany quite often – I look very favorably on their traffic conditions given the size and scope associated with moving people around the country. While public transit is inextricably linked to traffic – I want to look at some specific things i think Europe – but particularely Germany does much better than we do. We could defeinetely learn a thing or two:
1. Respect the lanes. Do Canadian’s even know that the left lane is for passing? This should be pounded into drives new and old. If you want to drive slower or needle the speed limit – stay right and keep the passing lane open of for the rest of us.
2. Transport Trucks stay right and limit your speed. Speed limiters on trucks makes damn good sense. How many roll overs from over worked truckers on the 401 do we need before we just install these damn things – i.e. make them mandatory. I don’t care if my shipment of X will get to Wal-Mart 1 day later…we’ll wait! Furthermore, keep transport trucks to the right except to pass! Seriously – this is genius in Europe. Sometimes you can see literal truck convoys on the right side of the highway. I think its great.
3. Pay attention to the road dammit. I change the radio here and there and look down to punch in the numbers for a call – but come on. I see some ridiculousness with people on phones, typing emails, etc. Just dont. BUT, we need to be reasonable as well. Cracking down on people dialing numbers or changing a radio station is counter productive. Nailing the person with the phone on their ear or head in an email is righteous and sensible. This goes for city streets especially – where pedestrians and bumper to bumper traffic can make driving conditions change all to quickly.
4. Lane diversions. THere must be a better way to direct traffic around a fender bender and to force people to move quickly. Even better – clean up the accident faster. I look at some fender benders and wonder why the hell these people even stopped to being with!
5. Kill the HOV lane…or at least limit it. THe HOV lane has some merits, but it is also a bit ridiculous. On the 404 – the HOV lanes are like luxury lanes. If you cut the size of that thing a bit and limited the shoulder – you could very likely fit another entire lane there! Which would make sense, because a driving/passing lane is REALLY need for an HOV lane to function effectively. And oh yeah, after 8pm to 5am – all bets should be off and those lanes should be free to use. I might also suggest weekends as well.
6. Speed. Why are our highways and streets so slow? You can add 10-20 km and you would still be fine. I would like to see studies that directly correlate accidents with speed. If we can all drive a bit faster, we all get their a bit faster…those who want to drive slower…dont forget…stay right!
7. Roundabouts. Do we need a traffic light at every friggin intersection? I refuse to believe that there are not other effective ways to manage traffic other than slapping a light every block. In some cases, get rid of the light entirely. In other cases – especially in the burbs…put in a round-a-bout. Finally, lets get the lights in sync…share data between cities and manage the flow dynamically based on known/understood traffic patterns and associated variables (weather, an accident, lane closures or construction, etc.).