Tag: Congestion

Categories
Live-work-play Urban Planning

Transit-oriented development coming to Hercules, California

Many communities around the world are making an attempt at combating urban sprawl. An excellent example is in a town near San Francisco, California. They are preventing urban sprawl and revitalizing a formerly industrial waterfront by creating a pedestrian-friendly, transit-oriented city.

What separates Hercules from other cities is that they are reclaiming land that was previously used for other functions instead of building on unused land that is “green”.

The town is also taking transit-oriented development to another level with a transit hub that will include a ferry terminal, an Amtrak rail station and buses destined for surrounding communities. Next to the terminal will be homes, offices, restaurants, retail stores and public space. Having everything close by encourages residents to walk instead of using the car, shop locally and meet their neighbours.

Having transit options, especially going to San Francisco, is a step in reducing traffic on some of the continents most congested roads.

Reducing congestion and commute times are ideas the vivaNext project will also bring to York Region.

What do you think about Hercules and the new urbanism in this suburban town?<-->

Categories
Surveys vivaNext.com

Do you think traffic congestion is getting worse in York Region?

In a recent blog posting, we told you about a survey jointly conducted by the Ontario Ministry of Transportation, the City of Toronto and the Regions of York, Durham, and Peel. It found that average speeds on highways and roadways in and around the GTA, especially along Highway 7, are decreasing due to traffic congestion and that the average vehicular trip now takes 11% to 21% longer than the exact same trip in 2002.

So what do you think? Do you agree with these findings?

Take a moment to cast your vote in our latest online poll. It can be found on any page of this blog near the top of the right side column or on the right side column on various pages of our website.

Speaking of our online poll, do you have a transit-oriented question you’d like to see asked in one of our upcoming polls? If so, please be sure to let us know. As with this blog and our Twitter and Facebook pages, we value the feedback we receive from you through our online polls!

Categories
Studies

Study shows you should expect to spend longer commuting

Traffic slowly moving along Highway 7.
Traffic slowly moving along Highway 7 in York Region.

If you think that your commute is taking longer, you’d be right and the bad news is that you’re not alone.

A recent survey conducted jointly by the Ontario Ministry of Transportation, the City of Toronto and the Regions of York, Durham and Peel confirms that average speeds on highways and roads all around the GTA are decreasing. On average, a trip now takes 11% to 21% longer than the exact same trip in 2002.

While this figure applies to the entire GTA, one of the worst long sections of highway is travelled by many York Region residents every day. The section travelling southbound along Hwy. 404 from 16th Ave. to Hwy. 401 during the morning rush hour is the slowest long stretch of highway in the GTA. Motorists see an average speed of 31km/h along this stretch during the morning peak period. Driving along Hwy. 404 during peak hours takes 3.5 times longer than during times when you are able to drive at the posted speed limit.

But York Region roads are not just congested by drivers heading in to and out of Toronto. The study looked at Highway 7 all the way from Durham to Peel Region, an 88 km stretch, and found that three of the five slowest sections were in York Region.

Average speeds on Hwy. 7 through York Region are often almost half of the posted speed limit and not just during rush hours. The study found that driving on Hwy. 7 in the middle of the day is almost as slow as driving it during the morning rush.

The simple solution as we see it is to get more people out of those cars that are causing the increase in congestion and get them on fast, convenient transit.

Do you agree that traffic is getting worse? What are some solutions?

Categories
Announcements Surveys

York Region residents cite congestion as reason to improve transit

Traffic congestion

We all know that traffic congestion is getting worse. The major arteries, including Yonge St., Davis Dr. and Highway 7, are packed during peak hours of the day and congestion is only expected to get worse. That is a key reason why York Region is taking steps to improve rapid transit and build livable cities.

We wanted to know what you had to say about congestion, so we recently conducted a survey.* When asking York Region residents how they rate traffic congestion on a 10-point scale, over 75% of them said it was between a six and a 10, where 10 was high traffic congestion. In fact, four times more people rate traffic congestion as “high” than rate it as “low”. And almost 25% of the people surveyed rated congestion as an eight on the scale.

When asked about solutions, the largest percentage of respondents said that more and better rapid transit was the answer. People also cited bicycle lanes and more roads as other solutions.

It sounds like we are on the right track to providing those who work and/or live in York Region the solutions they need to avoid congestion.

What do you think about traffic congestion around York Region and what else should be done? Tell us what you think.

*Survey deemed accurate to within 5 percentage points