A new report released by the
Canadian Centre for Economic Analysis called “Economic Impacts of Highway 407”revealed some very interesting facts about the economics of the 407 – this included safety and congestion statistics. Many people in Waterloo Region use the 407 regularly to either cross through Toronto on their way elsewhere, or to cut across a significant portion of Toronto and its gridlock highway traffic on their regular commute.
The 407 through Toronto is fast, far faster than the 401 on the same stretches through the city. According to CANCEA and average 413K commuter trips occur every weekday on the highway. The trips are smooth and fast with 85% of vehicles travelling at or above 100 km/h. This translates to a congestion index of almost zero. The higway is constantly moving fast even at peak congestion periods. Let’s compare that to the same stretches of 401 through Toronto where at the same time of day 85% of vehicles travel BELOW 50km/h.