Quote:
Originally Posted by Crawford
I'd don't think I've ever driven in Toronto without being frustrated at the extreme level of congestion. There are very few major thru-streets or highways, and they're always packed. It might be faster than transit, but that isn't saying much.
Parking in Toronto seems pretty easy, however. Even downtown.
But I don't think Toronto is particularly driver-friendly, at least for North American standards. It's fairly transit oriented for the North American context. I believe third highest share of transit riders, after NY and Montreal?
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It's not, and that's what shows how much more efficient driving often is. Toronto is absolutely terrible to drive in and even then it's still usually the best mode of transport in most situations.
Cycling is actually the best for downtown, yes, because you don't have to deal with congestion, but even that has limits, particularly if the trip is more than 3 miles / 5km or so. It's a great option for similar reasons cars are great option - cycling can occur at your schedule no matter the time of day, and the trip can easily be adjusted as required for your needs. It's especially great as it's an extremely reliable form of transportation as there isn't such thing as congestion on a bike. If it takes 15 minutes to bike somewhere, it takes 15 minutes to bike somewhere at all times of day, 100% of the time.
Driving during peak periods can absolutely be frustrating though, I get why people avoid it. That's the one time of day other options are usually better.
Transit is the frustrating one, often taking 30+ minutes with an unpredictable amount of delay atop of it for relatively short trips. Even when I lived downtown Toronto without a car I only took it maybe one day a week because I hated it so much. I would often prefer to cycle through a snow storm than get stuck on a streetcar, it was so painful. Just not my thing I guess.. Commuter trains are the only form I don't mind taking as the average speeds are actually decent enough that it's approaching car's efficiency.