Metropolitan Traffic Congestion in Canada

This work is being carried out through a Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) grant. In the past, academic researchers have tended to focus on metropolitan traffic congestion issues relating to urban sprawl and urban form, the jobs-housing balance and commuting efficiency. These efforts have been weighted primarily to economic impacts and secondarily to environmental impacts with minimal attention paid to the underlying causes of the Canadian congestion phenomenon. Over a five year period, this research will produce one of the most comprehensive examinations of congestion in Canada ever taken. Congestion in Canada will be studied in terms of how it can be measured, what causes it, what implications it has and what policies ought to be prescribed to deal with it.