Connectivity Scenarios Along the Toronto-Waterloo Corridor

At a high level, the purpose of the current report is to use available empirical data to test out key scenarios that were raised in the companion report. More specifically, a joint model of commuting and mode choice for an area that encompasses the Greater Golden Horseshoe region is constructed for the purposes of this report. Details involved in the process of devising and building the model are described and then the end-product is used to run scenarios which focus on the corridor between Kitchener-Waterloo and Toronto. Scenarios focus on the possible impacts of high occupancy vehicle/toll (HOV/HOT) lanes and on a potential express rail service. The focus of this report is something of a niche topic in the realm of commuting behaviour – not much has been written about innovation corridors of lengths 75 to 150km. The overall idea of the modelling and scenario effort is to build a model that reflects the current preferences and behaviours of commuters in the region and which is capable to estimate results based on testing these behaviours and preferences when new modal options for travel are made available.