Transportation Improvements 1800s


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Transportation Improvements 1800s

Transportation Improvements 1800s

Among the conclusions presented in Toronto Board of Trade's "Scorecard on Prosperity" is the fact that "Toronto has the worst record on [traffic] congestion of all benchmarked metropolises." The transportation category front-runners in this global study were Tokyo and Hong Kong, which achieved the top grade of A, while Toronto scored an abysmal D. Vancouver also earned a D and Canada's highest-ranked cities, Montreal and Calgary, fared slightly better, receiving Cs.

Troubleshooting Regional Deficits

Pinning down precisely why transit services, at the national and regional levels, are so poor is a challenging matter. But the report did offer some suggestions on how to improve Toronto's transit deficiencies. First of all, because "land located near publicly provided transportation infrastructure rises in value relatively faster than other properties," the cost of constructing the necessary expansions could be recouped through taxation mechanisms.

Secondly, the introduction of "a regionally integrated smartcard fare system" would make public transit easier to use and more convenient. Many major international cities, such as London, Hong Kong, Seoul, and Kuala Lumpur, use smartcard systems with great success. In the case of London's Oyster card, "pre-paid, but unspent, sums on Oyster cards — almost £30 million in 2009 alone — provide a significant form of collateral to finance capital and operating expenses."