Thursday, May 29, 2008

Good News = Bad News

The latest Cordon Count figures are out!

First the good news, Toronto's 'Gridlock' is getting better. Continuing the trend that has been going on for over a decade. Transit ridership into the downtown core has held steady since the last count. Vehicle traffic into the cor is down by 11%. No matter how one chooses to look at it, gridlock and congestion is improving in the core.

Now the bad news. The good news for gridlock and congestion is a symptom of Toronto's decay. Fewer jobs in the city means less need to travel into it. Maybe taxing businesses to death is part of the city's environmental program?

selected quotes;

The growth in vehicle trips between the ‘905’ regions has been particularly strong. This growth has been fueled by rapid expansion in population as well as new employment centres that have located in the ‘905’ region. Additionally, new high speed and major transportation infrastructure such as Highway 407 that straddles the ‘905’ region has contributed to this growth. As a result, reverse commuting and cross commuting patterns have become more predominant than was observed in 1991. The Central Area Cordon has actually recorded a slight decrease in vehicular trips in the peak direction (inbound), which is testament to the fact that new employment has been locating outside the traditional downtown, in areas which are relatively more accessible by a high speed road network. Total transit ridership from and to the Central Area Cordon was relatively stable from 2001 to 2006.


The only screenline that showed a decrease for both the total count period and the combined peak period was the Central Area Cordon. The Central Area Cordon experienced a decrease of 11% during both the combined morning and afternoon peak period and the total count period.