A new study by GPS manufacturer TomTom reveals that Ottawa is the 10th worst city in North America for traffic congestion – worse than New York and Montreal and about on par with Toronto.
According to the study, Ottawa’s drivers are caught in traffic 39 minutes per hour, with delays during morning peak congestion at 55 per cent, and evening peak congestion at 75 per cent.
City of Ottawa officials say that the study is not a correct representation of the city’s traffic situation. They would need to learn more about the quality of the data and when the congestion was measured.
Kanata North Coun. Marianne Wilkinson, chair of the transportation committee, says that the study used photographs to determine congestion rates, making it less accurate.
She says the study may have been looking at a specific day of the year when traffic is usually worse than normal. “Maybe they were looking at a day we had a snowstorm,” she says, “or when there was an accident.”
Wilkinson points out that when there are accidents in the city, the roads are closed. “And at that point, you do have traffic because there is limited access.”
Officials say that some of the most congested roads in Ottawa are portions of Bronson Avenue, Wellington Street, Carling Avenue, and Hunt Club Road, adding that congestion in the downtown area is dependent on conditions on the Queensway.
“In the morning rush hour, I don’t find it too terrible,” says Wilkinson of traffic in the Centretown area. She says she often takes the bus to work from Kanata to avoid traffic. And if she needs to get somewhere downtown, “I walk,” she says.
Using public transit, riding bikes, and walking are all alternatives to driving – and that helps reduce traffic.
“There is traffic in the city, we know that,” she says, adding that the city is encouraging people to get out of their cars.
Officials say that the city is working hard to improve public transit, encourage walking and cycling, and improve roadways.
“We’re putting in bike lanes, so the number of driving lanes has been reduced downtown. People get out of their cars onto their bicycles,” says Wilkinson. The point is to “have people move from being in a car, to being on a bus or being on a bicycle.”
The city is investing billions of dollars to expand public transit, cycling network and pedestrian links. Construction of the light-rail corridor between Tunney’s Pasture and Blair stations, which will include a rail tunnel in the downtown area, will begin in 2013.