UTTRI Director Professor Eric Miller was quoted by CBC News in “StatsCan study shows Canadian commute times are getting longer — and it’s costing us” on March 5, 2019:
University of Toronto professor Eric Miller says there’s an economic price to be paid for all those hours we spend sitting in traffic.
“When we’re assessing different transportation policies, we look at the time people spend commuting,” Miller said. “We attach a value of time to that or an estimate of how people value their time because they’re always trading time and money off.”
Using the average Canadian hourly rate of $27.36 that Statistics Canada estimates in its Labour Force Survey, a commuting time to work of one hour each way means a cost per week of about $273.
But the real economic cost comes from congestion, which Miller says makes everything less efficient. This affects those stuck in their cars attempting to get to work on time. It also slows truck drivers, making it longer for them to deliver goods and services.
Listen to Miller’s radio interviews
- March 11, 2019: CBC Radio One, Ontario Today with Rita Celli.
- March 5, 2019: Global News Radio, 640 Toronto with Jeff McArthur.
More on true costs of congestion
1. Professor Marianne Hatzopoulou, Canada Research Chair in Transportation and Air Quality, studies the relationship between traffic and air quality.
- “Pollution Pockets” video segment from ‘Something in the Air’ documentary for CBC’s The Nature of Things.
2. Professor Jonathan Hall is an economist and expert on the relationship between road tolls and congestion.
- “How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Road Tolls” Professor Jonathan Hall, Department of Economics, University of Toronto. Video clip of Jonathan Hall’s presentation at 2019 Canadian International AutoShow.
- Paper: Pareto improvements from Lexus Lanes: The effects of pricing a portion of the lanes on congested highways