Toronto City Council unanimously approves MoveTO action plan to help manage congestion and build a more resilient and safer transportation system

Toronto City Council today unanimously approved the MoveTO action plan. This plan will help manage congestion and build a more resilient, modern and safe transportation system.

The MoveTO plan proposes five key measures that will help make the city’s transportation system more resilient in response to the effects of COVID-19 on Toronto’s overall transportation network.

The five key proposed actions that will launch starting next year include:

• ‘Smart’ traffic signals – automatically adjusted signal timing based on actual traffic demand. Staff are proposing 500 locations over the next five years.
• ‘Intelligent’ intersections – helps to improve safety at intersections for pedestrians and cyclists. Staff are proposing 100 locations over the next two years.
• Advanced Transit Signal Priority (ATSP) – detects buses running behind schedule and extends green times when necessary. There are currently 400 locations with Transit Signal Priority in the city and staff are proposing to accelerate the implementation of ATSP on 100 more priority locations over the next two years with a focus on key TTC corridors across the city.
• Construction Hub Pilot Program expansion – this program helps manage traffic and reduce congestion caused by construction around work zones, improves communication with the local community, and keeps people safe. An expansion of the pilot is proposed and will include three new locations: Lakeshore Hub, Downtown Hub and East Harbour. The next step is a focus on working with developers to do more to reduce the amount of time the right-of-way is closed due to construction.
• Transportation Demand Management Strategy – a set of measures to help avoid congestion at specific times, locations, and on certain modes of transportation. Staff propose building on the existing Smart Commute program with local employers to provide additional supports for commuters, while developing strategies to address more localized instances of congestion.

These five recommended strategies aim to reduce travel times and improve travel reliability for vehicles, improve safety and optimize movement for pedestrians and people on bikes at intersections, improve transit operations, coordinate construction activities to minimize impacts to the transportation network and improve safety, and help employers to reduce travel demand and greenhouse gas emissions.

The MoveTO plan builds on the work the City has done to positively impact congestion, while also considering safer streets, reducing greenhouse gas emissions and taking further steps towards a more equitable transportation network in Toronto. Some of these strategies include the recently approved Freight and Goods Movement Strategy, the Traffic Agents program and the Vision Zero Road Safety Plan.

The full interim MoveTO report is available online.

Quotes:

“MoveTO will help keep people moving safely throughout Toronto. This plan delivers smart, common-sense approaches that will help pedestrians, cyclists, transit riders, and drivers get around our city. I have urged City staff to have the technology in place as quickly as possible to make sure we have a more modern and safer transportation system as soon as possible that responds and adapts to traffic in real time. These are solutions that can improve quality of life for people in Toronto.”
– Mayor John Tory

“This plan is a commitment to improve not only congestion but also road safety. The technology and strategies contained in the MoveTO plan will help keep pedestrians and people on bikes safer, prevent collisions and will keep goods moving. And they will complement strategies such as the new Traffic Agents program that is now in place.
Growing cities must continue to invest in these plans to make transportation systems more adaptable while also making roads in Toronto safer for people.”
– Councillor James Pasternak (York Centre), Chair of Infrastructure and Environment Committee

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