Study identifies Canada’s worst traffic bottlenecks

Canada’s top 20 most congested traffic bottlenecks may cover just 65 kilometres, but they collectively cost drivers over 11.5 million hours and an extra 22 million litres of fuel per year. These are two findings of Grinding to a Halt, Evaluating Canada’s Worst Bottlenecks, released by the Canadian Automobile Association (CAA). Studies show that bottlenecks are the single biggest contributor to road delay, far outpacing traffic accidents, inclement weather and construction. The report provides data-based
January 12, 2017 Read time: 2 mins
Canada’s top 20 most congested traffic bottlenecks may cover just 65 kilometres, but they collectively cost drivers over 11.5 million hours and an extra 22 million litres of fuel per year. These are two findings of Grinding to a Halt, Evaluating Canada’s Worst Bottlenecks, released by the Canadian Automobile Association (CAA).


Studies show that bottlenecks are the single biggest contributor to road delay, far outpacing traffic accidents, inclement weather and construction. The report provides data-based evidence for decision-makers to use when making decisions on infrastructure investment and environment policy.  It includes the cost to Canadians of these bottlenecks in terms of lost time, productivity and added greenhouse gas emissions.

“Traffic congestion is a major source of stress for Canadians. Our study concludes that traffic bottlenecks affect Canadians in every major urban market, increasing commute times by as much as 50 per cent,” said Jeff Walker, vice-president of Public Affairs for CAA National. “Reducing these bottlenecks will increase the quality of life for millions of Canadians, save millions in fuel costs and reduce greenhouse gases, helping contribute to Canada’s climate change commitments.”

Toronto has ten bottlenecks in the top 20, Montreal five, Vancouver four and Quebec City one. Other cities such as Calgary, Edmonton, Regina, Winnipeg, Ottawa and Halifax also experience serious traffic delays.

Related Content

  • Knoxville chooses Siemens for city-wide streetlight retrofit
    September 20, 2017
    Siemens has been chosen by the City of Knoxville, Tennessee to retrofit nearly 30,000 streetlights with new energy efficient light-emitting diodes (LEDs). The retrofit is estimated to cut the City’s streetlight operation budget in half by saving US$2 million annually in energy and maintenance costs and is expected to pay for itself in less than ten years.
    Read More
  • Congestion to cost US drivers billions of dollars over the next decade
    October 2, 2017
    Traffic hotspots in 25 of the most congested cities in the US cost drivers billions of dollars over the next ten years, according to a new report by Inrix’s cloud-based analysis tool. Inrix’s Roadway analytics (IRA) tool ranked over 100, 000 traffic hotspots with economic cost calculated on wasted time, lost fuel and carbon emissions over the next ten years.
    Read More
  • Public safety demand driving ITS market growth, says report
    April 13, 2016
    The latest report from RnR Market Research indicates that one of the major factors positively impacting the intelligent transport systems market is the growing need for public safety as collision avoidance and dynamic warning systems are introduced to reduce the frequency of accidents by making users more aware of their surroundings. The analysts forecast global intelligent transport systems market to grow at a CAGR of 8.23 per cent during the period 2016-2020. The report, Global Intelligent Transport Sy
    Read More
  • Suppliers reshape to provide tolling and traffic management expertise
    August 2, 2013
    Jason Barnes examines the trend towards single source supply of complete tolling and traffic management solutions with some senior tolling industry figures. Only a few years back, the major tolling system suppliers were aggressively positioning themselves as one-stop shops for tolling solutions and operations. No sooner has that little flurry of innovation settled than another trend has emerged – tolling companies wanting to become major ITS suppliers as well. Various tolling company seniors have in recent
    Read More

Highlighted Content