Costs of Urban Congestion in Canada

The ability to address congestion requires, first, an understanding of the topic. To this end, different methods have been developed to quantify and compare congestion. A recent research study developed methods to quantify congestion and its costs in the nine largest urban areas in Canada. Three components of congestion and its costs—delay, wasted fuel, and greenhouse gas emissions—were developed. The methods were based on the travel demand—forecasting models of each urban area. In contrast to well-known methods such as the annual Urban Mobility Report in the United States, which uses common sets of data to allow a comparison of congestion in 85 urban areas, a comparative analysis was not possible because the models differ in structure, definition, and base data. Conversely, the model-based approach supports significantly more analytical depth, allows planners in individual urban areas to customize the tools, and provides a means to account for congestion in forecasts and in the development and evaluation of long-range transportation plans. It also provides a basis for linking the engineering aspects of congestion with the broader economic perspectives. The approach used in the Canadian study has potential for metropolitan planning organizations, state departments of transportation, and other U.S. transportation planning authorities that seek to incorporate the analysis of congestion into their long-range transportation planning, programming, and budgeting processes.