Build housing where people work
Those who use the DVP regularly to drive toward Toronto's downtown know that there has to be a better way.
Columnist David Soknacki's support for a HOV lane with purchased rights for single occupancy should have some appeal to those who carpool and those with the means to pay. Whether life will be better for the rest of the DVP drivers is not discernible.
A better way to ease the downtown congestion might be to create motivation for more commercial development in the Scarborough and North York city centres as well as the development in the employment zones along Sheppard Avenue East. As well, the light rapid transit expansion plans surely must focus on taking people to work more effectively than driving. (It must be said that the planning and development of the Scarborough city centre has been overly "driving" focused and a big mistake.)
Too much of the redevelopment along Yonge Street and Sheppard has been high-density residential. That is the majority of residents in order to work must either take public transit or drive. In other words, they add to the load on the roadway and subway.
Given the way the subway goes, these people are heading downtown.
Toronto must work to give incentives to businesses to consider relocation to or use of the other city centres and under-utilized employment zones that are well served by public transit and less congested arterial roads, especially east of Yonge. This might be less expensive than building new infrastructure heading downtown and would be smart economics.
In short, put more places where people work closer to where they live and can use public transit more.
Brian V. Ralph
