Toronto Downtown Transportation Operations Study
IBI Group was retained by the City of Toronto to investigate transportation operations issues within the downtown core, and develop near-term improvements that could increase the efficiency of the existing transportation network and #getTOmoving.
Client
City of TorontoLocation
Toronto, ONSupporting Toronto’s new plan to #getTOmoving
IBI Group was retained by the City of Toronto to complete a downtown transportation operations study to determine what short- and long-term solutions could benefit all of Toronto’s road users and fight traffic congestion. IBI’s transportation engineers set out to create a plan that would be focused on transportation into, out of, and within the study area; committed to helping all road users; confined to the existing surface transportation infrastructure; and intended to identify short-term and medium-term solutions to traffic issues.
Stakeholder consultation was critical to study input, and the team used a variety of methods to engage the public. A study webpage was added to the City of Toronto website, and an online survey and interactive issues mapping portal were developed to allow the public to identify locations with recurring traffic issues in the downtown core. The survey generated nearly 4,000 responses. Individual meetings were held with all Ward Councillors, key BIAs, venue operators, and City departments.
The study recommended 17 potential projects, aimed at all forms of surface transportation, following four general themes: coordination and communication, traffic regulations and management, traffic circulation, and intelligent transportation systems. The study also produced a framework for the evaluation of proposed future transportation projects.
IBI’s report helped inform Mayor John Tory and the City of Toronto’s #getTOmoving campaign and traffic plan 2.0, focusing on six key elements:
- Quickly clearing minor crashes on the Gardiner, DVP and other major arteries
- Full-time traffic civilian wardens at several hotspots around the city
- Requesting all non-emergency hydro, gas, cable and phone companies to work in off-peak hours
- Sharing traffic data to give users enhanced information to plan/adjust commutes
- Using innovative traffic signal plans to manage the flow of traffic into the Downtown Core
- Studying increased fines for traffic blocking offences and streamlining their administration
Services and Project Types
Mobility+
Using a wide range of recommended improvements, the Downtown Transportation Operations Study for the City of Toronto will help #getTOmoving.
A new mobile ecosystem is changing the way we interact with and move throughout our cities.
Project Leaders
Ron Stewart
Deputy Regional Director, Canada East
Toronto, ON
As Deputy Regional Director for Canada East, Ron Stewart’s primary focus is liaising with the Ontario office leads outside Toronto. Ron is a transportation engineer, and member of Professional Engineers Ontario, the Institute of Transportation Engineers, and the Transportation Association of Canada. He has more than 30 years of experience leading multidisciplinary teams in both the private and public sectors at the municipal, provincial, and federal levels across Canada. His experience includes Traffic Engineering, Road Safety, Transportation Planning, Transit Systems, ITS, and Signal System Operations and Maintenance.
Ron has a Bachelor of Applied Science in Civil Engineering from the University of Waterloo and a Master of Business Administration from York University.
Peter Richards
Associate Director | Practice Lead, Transportation Engineering
Toronto, ON
Peter Richards has 15 years of experience, with a focus on traffic operations analysis, traffic and parking assessments, and traffic signal coordination. Peter has extensive experience completing traffic impact studies, parking studies, including parking utilization studies for various developments, by-law reviews, and parking standards reviews.
Peter also has experience undertaking traffic capacity analysis, review of multi-modal developments, site circulation and access review, transportation demand management strategies, traffic model calibration, developing and implementing optimized and coordinated signal timing plans, queuing analysis, public consultation sessions, speed and delay surveys, and innovative traffic solutions.
For the Toronto 2015 Pan Am / Parapan Am Games Transportation Plan work, Peter was presented the Award of Merit 2016 from the Canadian Institute of Planners for Sustainable Mobility, Transportation and Infrastructure. His professional memberships include Professional Engineers Ontario, Institute of Transportation Engineers, and the Canadian Parking Association.
Matt Colwill
Associate Director | Practice Lead, Transportation Engineering
Vancouver, BC
Matt Colwill, BA.Sc, P.Eng, has 15 years of experience in the fields of road user safety and traffic operations. Matt has conducted operational and safety reviews for a range of public sector clients, at all levels of government, including the Ministry of Transportation of Ontario, the City of Toronto, the City of Ottawa, York Region, the City of Waterloo, Transport Canada, and a number of private sector clients. These projects have involved safety and operational assessments of freeways, rural highways, urban and suburban arterials, and local roadways, and they have addressed the needs of vehicles, pedestrians, cyclists, and specialty road users.
Matt is a member of the Institute of Transportation Engineers, and serves as the Transportation Safety Committee representative to the Sustainability Standing Committee. He is also an active participant in the Road Safety Committee of Ontario.
Matt has also published papers and presented at the Transportation Association of Canada annual meeting, addressing topics that include the safety impacts of freeway HOV lanes, the effectiveness of winter weather collision countermeasures, and designing streets to protect vulnerable road users.
Stephen Buckley
Former General Manager, Transportation Services
City of Toronto