HAMILTON, Ont. — An executive representing Canada’s railways has a dire prediction for the Golden Horseshoe — unless we change our ways, the Canadian Press reported.
Bill Rowat, president of the Railway Association of Canada, warns that unless we reduce our dependence on highways, farmland in Niagara and Southern Ontario will continue to be swallowed up at the rate of thousands of acres a year.
In Hamilton today to speak to the Chamber of Commerce, Rowat went on to note that Toronto is already 40 per cent paved surface and Los Angeles, 60 per cent.
If we continue to rely so much on highways to meet our transportation needs, the Golden Horseshoe will become more like a rusty horseshoe, he says.
And gridlock. Worse. Much worse. He cites a recent Ontario Ministry of Transportation report, which forecast that the current 80-minute drive from Burlington to Toronto would take 180 minutes by 2020. On a bad day, anyone who travels the QEW on a regular basis will tell you that’s reality today.
Rowat’s solution is simple. Get long-haul trucks off the highways and integrate the use of trucks with rail to ensure that we get the best use out of each mode of transportation. And improve GO transportation facilities and operations so that commuters leave their cars at home.