York Region drivers have longest GTA commute

Yorkregion.com
Nov. 12, 2015
By Lisa Queen

Feel like you spend way too much time in your car driving to work?

It’s not your imagination.

York Region has the highest car ownership rates and the longest commute times in the Greater Toronto Area.

“We like to own our cars in York Region. We have the highest car ownership of the five municipalities in the GTA,”

Brian Titherington, the region’s director of roads and traffic operations, told a committee meeting last Thursday.

The average York household owns 1.86 vehicles.

That tops Toronto, where the average household owns 1.12 cars, Peel Region, where the average is 1.67 cars, Halton Region, with an average of 1.78, and Durham Region, where the average is 1.79.

York residents also spend the most time commuting to work in the GTA, Titherington said.

The average York worker spends 32.1 minutes getting to work, compared to only 23.6 minutes in Durham, 27.8 minutes in Toronto, 30.3 minutes in Peel and 30.5 minutes in Halton.

York commuters spend the most time getting to work even though their average travel distance is only 21 kilometres, putting the region ahead of Toronto’s 13.2 kilometres and Peel’s 19 kilometres, but less than Halton’s 26.4 kilometres and Durham’s 30.1 kilometres.

Public opinion surveys indicate traffic congestion is the No. 1 concern of York residents, according to Newmarket Chamber of Commerce president Debra Scott.

Through funding from Metrolinx, York Region and the Town of Newmarket, the chamber runs Smart Commute Central York, one of 13 transit management associations in the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area, including associations in Markham-Richmond Hill and north Toronto-Vaughan.

The associations encourage sustainable transportation choices such as carpooling, transit, walking and cycling, to improve traffic congestion.

Data show in the last 12 months, initiatives promoted by Smart Commute Central York, which takes in the region’s Northern Six municipalities, have reduced single-vehicle trips by more than 25,000, which would be enough cars to fill the parking lot at Upper Canada Mall five times, Scott said.

“Traffic congestion certainly has health impacts on people not fortunate enough to work close to where they live and I think communities are impacted as well, in that people don’t have as much time to volunteer and get involved in their local communities,” she said, adding congestion also negatively affects a business’ ability to move goods.

“It has far-reaching effects, whether it’s on (commuters’) health or their lifestyle. And we can’t always look to government to solve all of our problems and (we can’t) continue to pave over greenspace.”

York’s rapid growth and intensification is contributing to the region’s traffic headaches, but the region is taking steps to address the issue, Canadian Automobile Association government relations specialist Caroline Grech said.

She applauded a proposal that would see the region boost its fees to $450, up from $110, for those who block road lanes for construction activity. The region is also looking at higher fees for community events and other road-restricting activities.

“I think the region is prioritizing congestion,” she said.

“There (also) needs to be a culture shift and that will come with improved transit in the region, more frequent GO service. But now, it’s a very car-focused area.”

Proving how reliant we are on our cars, 86 per cent of York employees get to work in private vehicles, with only 13 per cent getting on public transit and a miniscule 1 per cent walking or cycling.

About 108,100 of us drive to work in Toronto, while 59,200 residents make the reverse trip to work.

Meanwhile, 3,600 York employees travel to Durham, while 12,500 Durham residents make their way to York for work.

About 18,600 York residents travel to Peel for their jobs, compared to the 15,100 Peel residents who come to work in York.

Heading north, 2,200 York residents work in Simcoe County and Barrie, while 8,300 Simcoe and Barrie employees travel south to York.

About 50 per cent of York work trips, or 132,700, are made within the region’s boundaries.

Traffic volumes are increasing 2 to 3 per cent a year, with York drivers racking up more than 15 million kilometres travelled this year, Titherington said.

About 40 per cent of traffic congestion can be blamed on bottleneck areas, while 25 per cent is caused by collisions, 10 per cent by construction, 15 per cent by weather, and 5 per cent each can be blamed on signal timing and community events, Titherington said.

The region is taking steps to reduce congestion, including replacing 100 traffic signal controllers a year over this term of council, he said.

New controllers allow signal timings to better reflect changing travel patterns for non-recurring delays such as collisions, weather and construction.

The region also conducts arterial reviews to assess how a series of intersections work together to meet the travel needs of different commuters, Titherington said.

Since 2013, the region has operated a traffic management centre weekdays from 5:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. to monitor traffic and co-ordinate responses depending on the nature of the delay, he said.