Highway 401 is competing with Interstate 5 in California for the title of the busiest highway in the world. This is no surprise to commuters in major urban centres like Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver who travel on congested roads every day, fighting traffic, elevating their stress levels and contributing to air pollution. Traffic congestion is having a huge impact on our economy. This is compounded by the close proximity of the Canada-U.S. border, where congestion is becoming a factor affecting our competitive position. In addition, transportation is vital to getting employees where they need to be, so they spend more time working productively instead of commuting.
Congestion is costly.
Urban congestion also impacts our national transportation infrastructure. Airports, rail yards and ports are usually located within cities, and must interface with urban transportation systems. There are direct impacts. For example, on a short trip by air, it is not uncommon that the trip to the airport takes longer than actual flying time. Consider that Pearson airport, in addition to being a major North American hub, serves residents from all over southern Ontario and all these people flying out of Toronto converge on Pearson and the roads in the area.