I've worked in…

I've worked in Transportation Planning for over 20 years, and there's a common misconception that widening roads and building new roads will reduce congestion. In fact, it always makes it worse in the long term. Ontario's proposed Bill 212 won't reduce gridlock, and won't save commuters time. I strongly oppose Bill 212. Hwy 413 will lead to more urban sprawl, people moving further from their jobs because of the perceived new travel savings in the short term, leading to more vehicles kilometres travelled and more congestion in the long term. It is the black hole of highway widening. And it comes at great cost to society.

Induced demand is a non-intuitive concept, but an important one. Building more roads leads to more traffic. This doesn't mean we should never build roads, but we must take a more holistic approach and consider the entire transportation system. This includes encouraging active modes of transportation and public transit. There is no way to relieve congestion if the quantity of vehicles on the roads continues to increase. Car travel is extremely space inefficient. We need transportation options.