As a part of its series on pressing issues that should inform the current Canadian federal election, the Globe and Mail examines how other cities around the world have undertaken affordable transportation innovations to ease traffic congestion.
The Globe and Mail points out that Canadians are only too willing to travel on subways or bicycles when they travel but seem resistant to change in their own cities:
"Canadians...remain psychologically gridlocked when it comes to how to improve our daily commute. Change also requires the kind of permanent funding that big-city mayors and others believe should be part of a federal urban strategy – and on the table for discussion in the national election campaign.
According to a new ranking of international cities by the Toronto Board of Trade, Canadian urban centres fare poorly on everything from transit ridership to infrastructure spending. Tokyo, Hong Kong, Paris, Stockholm and Oslo topped the transportation ranking, while cities as varied as Madrid, New York and Seattle all outperformed Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver, where congestion and transit problems were found to be 'crippling' local economies."
As alternatives, it offers New York's transportation planning under Janette Sadik-Khan, Hong Kong's "Octopus" smart card, Stockholm's congestion pricing, Spain's public-private partnerships and time-shifting in Melbourne.
FULL STORY: Canadian traffic in psychological gridlock
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Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools
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City of Albany
UCLA Lewis Center for Regional Policy Studies
Mpact (formerly Rail~Volution)
Chaddick Institute at DePaul University
City of Piedmont, CA
Great Falls Development Authority, Inc.
HUDs Office of Policy Development and Research