Toronto’s King Street traffic solution yields remarkable short-term results

Toronto may have found a solution to crippling streetcar delays along the King Street corridor, but keeping things running smoothly looks set to be an expensive, labour-intensive endeavour.

Data collected along the corridor shows that assigning traffic agents to keep drivers and cyclists in check has led to streetcar journeys that are almost four times faster.

As soon as the yellow-jacket-clad traffic directors head home, however, there’s a “rapid deterioration” in travel speeds along the key downtown route, the city found.

King Street is the busiest surface transit route in Toronto, according to city officials, moving some 72,000 riders every day on its streetcars.

A return to downtown jobs since the pandemic and a swell of construction, including the five-year closure of Queen Street to build the Ontario Line, have slowed the street to a crawl.

Local rules on the street dictate drivers cannot drive the length of King Street, with only short drives allowed for people who need local access.

As downtown traffic has worsened, the city says those rules have become ignored more and more regularly.

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Data recently released by the city found 110 violations of the rules every hour at the Yonge and King streets intersection alone, an increase of almost 60 per cent compared to the previous year.

The city also said bumper-to-bumper congestion on north-south streets like University Avenue, Yonge Street and Jarvis Street has made the problem worse, with stragglers blocking the intersection for streetcars.

The result has been streetcar journeys so slow that some transit users said it is faster to walk along the route.

In an effort to address the fading usefulness of the King Street corridor as a transit route, the City of Toronto rolled out a program of traffic agents.

The program places the agents at problem intersections to direct the flow of traffic and crack down on the number of people bending the rules.

The effect of introducing the agents on King Street was dramatic.

Without traffic agents in place, streetcars crawled along, taking between 45 and 65 minutes to drive the length of King Street, according to the city.

When traffic agents were introduced, the travel time dropped as much as 74 per cent, to between 17 and 21 minutes.

“Saving up to 40 minutes on your commute is no small feat,” Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow said. “We’re committed to ensuring all Torontonians have a safer, more efficient journey, which is why we’re implementing smart traffic management strategies, speeding up public transit and investing in infrastructure projects that will get our city back on track.”

The issue the city is now struggling with is that when it removes traffic agents from King Street, the problems will rapidly return.

That means without traffic agents — who are also being deployed at other intersections and an average cost of $45 per hour — King Street continues to be sluggish.

The city has notified some traffic signal timings, added special signals for transit vehicles and made some notifications to road and pavement markings.

Officials said they hope changes, including signage, will make the rules easier for drivers to understand.

Temporarily platforms are also being installed for streetcar stops to make it easier and quicker for people to get on and off of the vehicles.

A study is also due to be completed looking at whether automated enforcement can effectively make sure the rules are obeyed,

“We know Torontonians want their transit journeys to be fast, reliable and safe,” Coun. Chris Moise said. “The City’s actions to improve traffic flows through the King Street Transit Priority Corridor ensure a better experience for all road users.”