Mayor unveils city action plan to reduce congestion as children head back to school

Toronto Mayor John Tory says the city has an action plan to manage traffic congestion now that many students are going back to school in person and some workers are returning to the office.

Traffic, as a result, is reaching pre-pandemic levels, Tory told reporters at a news conference on Tuesday.

To get ready for an increase in traffic in September, the city created what it calls a congestion management action team over the summer, Tory said.

The team, made up of senior traffic management experts, used data to study transportation issues in Toronto and have planned for a safe return to schools and offices, he added.

Now, the team will do the following to keep traffic moving this fall:

• Actively monitor traffic cameras around the city, especially at congestion hot spots to provide real-time problem solving.
• Increase the number of unit operators monitoring and overriding traffic signals to manage congestion related to incidents on the roads.
• Deploy all city traffic agents to the "hottest" congestion hot spots, including Lake Shore Boulevard and Gardiner access points, University Avenue, Front Street and Bay Street.
• Reduce the number of rush-hour construction exemptions issued (more exemptions were granted during the low-traffic periods of the pandemic).
• Return to pre-pandemic policies for construction near school zones to increase safety and ensure local schools are aware of any nearby construction.
• Pause new non-essential utility cut work during the first two weeks of September.
• Deploy school crossing guards at 765 locations to improve safety as students return to in-class learning.
• Activate "smart signals" at 17 intersections to adjust to real-time traffic conditions and synchronize with other smart signals to alleviate congestion.
• Accelerate and complete maintenance and connection of more than 900 pieces of technology that detect vehicles and provide information about congestion.

In a news release on Tuesday, the city said it is working closely with Toronto Police parking enforcement to patrol for no-stopping and no-parking violations to reduce congestion. It is also enforcing bike lanes.

Police have said there has been a 190 per cent increase in violations for stopping or parking in a bike lane when compared to pre-pandemic levels.