Enhancing Transportation Corridors to Support Southern Ontario Innovation Ecosystems

The research has clearly shown that the even the most exceptional of metropolitan innovation ecosystems suffer from rather mundane transportation problems. Intra-metropolitan highway corridors in such metros are some of the busiest and most congested seen anywhere. The 50- 75km driving commute from the heart of San Francisco to the campuses of Silicon Valley can easily take two or three hours on a bad day. While most big metros have transportation problems, many of these metros have given rise to, or have enabled, transportation innovations of recent years and decades. These include electronic tolling, HOV and HOT lanes, modern inter-city bus services, high-speed rail, suburban bus rapid transit systems, advanced commuter rail systems and regional rapid transit, managed lanes and expressways and others. Many of the largest and most successful feature considerable transportation diversity: there can be multiple transit systems in place (e.g. heavy, light, and commuter rail and others). When the likes of ridesharing, taxis or short term car rentals are taken into account, there can be multiple transport providers also. These transport alternatives are important to help minimize automobile dependence, including on inter-city corridors.