Traffic agents improving traffic flow on King for streetcars, new data shows

The City of Toronto said traffic agents have led to a definite improvement in traffic flow on King Street since they were deployed late last year.

According to new data, there was a 33 per cent reduction in travel for vehicles at the intersection of King and Bay Streets, a 25 per cent increase in traffic flow, and a 64 per cent reduction in vehicles blocking the intersection when a traffic agent was present.

Dedicated traffic agents have now been stationed at the intersections of University, York, Bay, Yonge, Church, and Jarvis since the end of November during the afternoon rush hour and the program has been made permanent.

Since then, travel times for streetcars have gone from between 45 and 65 minutes down to between 17 and 21 minutes.

“I am bringing forward a budget that prioritized transit and traffic flow in our city because that extra 40 minutes that a transit rider saves, they can spend it with their loved ones with their families have a cup of coffee, they can go to the gym … We need to get on transit back on track and that’s exactly what we’re doing with this almighty traffic agent,” said Mayor Olivia Chow

Chow said they are examining whether to expand the agent program.

“We will look at where’s the best place at rush hour they are very much needed. So there will be, I believe, several reports coming to committee that would give permanency to this program,” she added.

The King Street pilot was made permanent in April 2019 after a one-and-a-half-year project that showed it increased daily weekly ridership by 16 per cent, and at the time, it took 16 minutes to travel from Bathurst to Jarvis Streets.

The pilot made it illegal for Toronto drivers to go through intersections, forcing them to only make a right hand turn.

King Street has been dealing with significant delays for TTC streetcars due to construction projects happening on parallel streets and drivers ignoring bylaws that restrict through traffic.

City staff says the problem was also exacerbated by “block-the-box” incidents due to north-south traffic on major streets like University, Bay, and Yonge.

Eastbound volumes on King had increased by 66 per cent in the evening peak period in the fall of 2023 and 103 per cent in the morning peak period, representing an increase of almost 300 vehicles.

There were also 110 violations per hour during the afternoon peak period at King and Yonge Streets.

Further actions from the city to increase traffic flow will also include traffic signal modifications that would make it clear that going through the intersection is essentially running a red light and is subject to greater fines.

It would come alongside traffic signal phasing changes to prioritize left-turn and right-turn green arrows.

Councillor Chris Moise said they are also looking into automatic transit enforcement along King Street.

“I look forward to receiving the report in the second quarter of this year and moving ahead to more consistent enforcement on King Street,” said Moise. “With the sheer volume of daily users, the King Street priorities corridor deserved investment and attention. It needs to serve everyone to the highest standard of efficiency.”