Traffic congestion costs the Toronto region $44.7 billion a year and 88,000 jobs, and the Toronto Region Board of Trade says the problem will get far worse without action from the next city council.
The business group released the figure on Sept. 2 as it launched the first in a series of three non-partisan issue guides designed to help voters understand what is at stake in Toronto's municipal election on Oct. 26.
The opening guide focuses on congestion, transit and infrastructure. Guides on housing and land use, and on funding public services, will follow later this month, the Toronto Region Board of Trade said in a news release.
Voters see congestion as an economic problem
The guide draws on new Board polling that found Torontonians rank traffic congestion among the most important economic issues City Hall should address, behind only cost of living and housing affordability.
Nearly seven in ten residents said congestion affects them personally, while 83 per cent said it has a major or moderate impact on Toronto's future prosperity and competitiveness.
Getting around this city takes longer than it should, and Torontonians have stopped treating that as an inconvenience and started treating it as an economic problem
That quote comes from Giles Gherson, president and CEO of the Toronto Region Board of Trade, who said in the release that congestion costs the region $44.7 billion annually and 88,000 jobs.
"Left alone, impacts will reach $85.5 billion a year by 2044," Gherson added. "The next four years will be critical in addressing this critical issue."
What the Board wants candidates to address
The guide lays out three outcomes the Board is advocating for: keeping Toronto moving through better traffic flow and construction coordination, building a faster and more reliable transit network, and prioritizing infrastructure investment for growth.
It closes with four questions the Board is putting to every candidate running for mayor and council in the October vote.
All three guides will be available at bot.com/whatsatstake.
The Toronto Region Board of Trade describes itself as one of the largest and most influential business chambers in North America, pursuing policy change to drive the growth and competitiveness of the Toronto region.
