Item - 2025.IE20.3

The Infrastructure and Environment Committee recommends that:

1. City Council direct the General Manager, Transportation Services to report back on the effectiveness of the traffic mitigation measures implemented to support the Gardiner and King / Church construction, Gardiner-Harbour Nexus, and the Liberty Village traffic mitigation plans, in the fall Congestion Management Plan report.

2. City Council authorize Transportation Services Division in cooperation with Economic Development and Culture Division, to allow Green Market Acceleration Program to expand the definition of "local" to include Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area, Greater Golden Horseshoe Area and Ontario green industry technology companies, and intake projects funded by Ontario Centre of Innovation for small and medium enterprise businesses outside of Toronto, Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area and Greater Golden Horseshoe Area, to include all Ontario businesses. This would encourage significant Canadian participation in the innovation ecosystem and invite more technology companies to commercialize, have physical presence in Toronto, operate physical space and or directly employ people in the City of Toronto.  

3. City Council authorize the General Manager, Transportation Services to negotiate and enter into a contract with pointA for the amount of $400,000.00 net of all taxes and charges ($407,040 net of Harmonized Sales Tax recoveries), for the delivery of Smart Commute Program services in Transportation Management Associations for a one (1) year period from May 1, 2025 to March 31, 2026, on terms and conditions satisfactory to the General Manager, Transportation Services and in a form satisfactory to the City Solicitor.

4. City Council direct the General Manager, Transportation Services, to undertake all necessary steps including public consultation for the implementation of an escalating Road Disruption Activity Reporting System fee, and report back to enable the fees to take effect in September 2025.

5. City Council direct the General Manager, Transportation Services report back on the effectiveness of the Road Disruption Activity Reporting System Fees in the fall Congestion Management Plan report, along with an update on the plans for a Construction Congestion Management Levy.

6. City Council direct the General Manager of Transportation Services, in consultation with the Executive Director of the Housing Secretariat and the Executive Director of Development Review, to report back on the feasibility of and steps required to implement an exemption to the Road Disruption Activity Reporting System fees for development projects containing affordable housing.

7. City Council direct the General Manager, Transportation Services in consultation with the Toronto Transit Commission to develop a strategy for expansion of the City’s existing Transit Signal Priority systems to all high ridership corridors and report on this to Infrastructure and Environment Committee as part of the the fall Congestion Management Plan update.

8. City Council request the General Manager, Transportation Services to work with the Toronto Transit Commission and the Toronto Police Service to develop a plan to significantly reduce the number of streetcar delays due to improperly parked vehicles, including exploring higher fines, and options for increased enforcement and improved timeframes for towing.

The Infrastructure and Environment Committee recommends that:

1. City Council direct the General Manager, Transportation Services to report back on the effectiveness of the traffic mitigation measures implemented to support the Gardiner and King / Church construction, Gardiner-Harbour Nexus, and the Liberty Village traffic mitigation plans, in the fall Congestion Management Plan report.

2. City Council authorize Transportation Services Division in cooperation with Economic Development and Culture Division, to allow Green Market Acceleration Program to expand the definition of "local" to include Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area, Greater Golden Horseshoe Area and Ontario green industry technology companies, and intake projects funded by Ontario Centre of Innovation for small and medium enterprise businesses outside of Toronto, Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area and Greater Golden Horseshoe Area, to include all Ontario businesses. This would encourage significant Canadian participation in the innovation ecosystem and invite more technology companies to commercialize, have physical presence in Toronto, operate physical space and or directly employ people in the City of Toronto.  

3. City Council authorize the General Manager, Transportation Services to negotiate and enter into a contract with pointA for the amount of $400,000.00 net of all taxes and charges ($407,040 net of Harmonized Sales Tax recoveries), for the delivery of Smart Commute Program services in Transportation Management Associations for a one (1) year period from May 1, 2025 to March 31, 2026, on terms and conditions satisfactory to the General Manager, Transportation Services and in a form satisfactory to the City Solicitor.

4. City Council direct the General Manager, Transportation Services, to undertake all necessary steps including public consultation for the implementation of an escalating Road Disruption Activity Reporting System fee, and report back to enable the fees to take effect in September 2025.

5. City Council direct the General Manager, Transportation Services report back on the effectiveness of the Road Disruption Activity Reporting System Fees in the fall Congestion Management Plan report, along with an update on the plans for a Construction Congestion Management Levy.

6. City Council direct the General Manager of Transportation Services, in consultation with the Executive Director of the Housing Secretariat and the Executive Director of Development Review, to report back on the feasibility of and steps required to implement an exemption to the Road Disruption Activity Reporting System fees for development projects containing affordable housing.

7. City Council direct the General Manager, Transportation Services in consultation with the Toronto Transit Commission to develop a strategy for expansion of the City’s existing Transit Signal Priority systems to all high ridership corridors and report on this to Infrastructure and Environment Committee as part of the the fall Congestion Management Plan update.

8. City Council request the General Manager, Transportation Services to work with the Toronto Transit Commission and the Toronto Police Service to develop a plan to significantly reduce the number of streetcar delays due to improperly parked vehicles, including exploring higher fines, and options for increased enforcement and improved timeframes for towing.

Judy Tse, Director, Strategic Policy and Programs, Jennifer Graham Harkness, Chief Engineer and Executive Director, Engineering and Construction Services, and Roger Browne, Director, Traffic Management, gave a presentation on Strategic Capital Coordination: An Integrated Approach to Capital Coordination, Delivery and Congestion Management.

Transportation Services is continuing to manage congestion across the City of Toronto in light of a population growth that saw 125,756 more people in Toronto in just one year, a 26 percent increase in vehicle registrations since 2014 and being constrained by 5,600 kilometres of road network that hasn't expanded in decades. Additionally, Toronto continues to be the busiest city in all North America in terms of construction due to increased private development activity, major infrastructure renewal and the implementation of higher order transit and the City's traffic data shows that this continues to be the most exacerbating factor towards congestion in the City.

A four-pronged, systems-based strategy is being recommended to address these challenges by integrating capital coordination, project delivery, procurement, and congestion management into a unified framework. Outlined in the following reports, this approach will be reviewed by [the respective Committees / Infrastructure and Environment Committee] in April and presented to City Council for consideration at its meeting on April 23-25.

1. Strategic Capital Coordination Office - First Annual Report

- Focus: Foundational steps in program coordination

2. Enhancing Capital Construction Delivery

- Focus: Improving project execution to align with the growing delivery rate and increasing coordination complexity

3. Review of Bid Award Panel

- Focus: Modernizing procurement practices to better support evolving project delivery needs and industry capacity

4. Congestion Management Plan - 2025 Update (this report)

- Focus: Managing congestion including mitigating the impacts of critical construction on mobility

One critical piece of this overall strategy to better mitigate the impacts of congestion within the City is the Congestion Management Plan. The updated Congestion Management Plan outlined in this report provides an additional set of measures that will be implemented to mitigate the congestion impacts of major capital construction projects planned in 2025, in parallel with temporary closures associated with private development and critical utility work.

The following are the five (5) key congestion management measures being undertaken in 2025:

- Leveraging technology to move people as efficiently and as safe as possible

- Helping transit move faster and more reliably.

- Managing intersections with on-the-ground traffic management and enforcement support.

- Enhancing traffic management for major special events and adopting a travel demand strategy around major events.

- Active planning and coordination of City-wide construction projects in year.

In addition to the key measures listed above, this report also provides an update on key items requested by Council as part of the adoption of the 2024 Congestion Management Plan update. It also includes an update on the partnership with the Ontario Innovation Network to pilot, test and develop new innovative technology solutions targeted at mitigating congestion and improving accessibility for all road users.

Staff have also reviewed the Toronto Regional Board of Trade's report, "Breaking Gridlock: Congestion Action Plan for Toronto", and this report includes a comparison of the recommendations in the Toronto Regional Board of Trade report with the current Congestion Management Plan, including some commentary on those recommendations.

While the recommendations in this report will not eliminate congestion, they provide the next steps to actively manage congestion against the ongoing pressures of growth and development that continue to shape our city.

As this report is an update and responds to previous Council requests, Transportation Services will be bringing forward a report on an updated Congestion Management Plan in the fall of 2025. This follow-up report will provide details on the effectiveness of the congestion management measures in 2025 as well as the plan and funding requirements going forward over the next five (5) years.