Toronto City Council has passed a new congestion management plan, which includes a last-minute amendment from Mayor Olivia Chow to hire a “traffic czar” to get people moving.
“Having a lead, a person in charge, which means that person will take the responsibility and all bucks will stop with that person,” said Chow.
The new czar will be responsible for looking at everything from construction to transit and will be hired by the city manager from existing city staff. What kind of powers this person will have and how their job performance will be judged is unclear.
“I don’t know how that person’s success will be measured. I don’t know if council is setting them up to fail,” said Etobicoke Centre Coun. Stephen Holyday. “If we appoint a czar, will council be happy with the results? Will that person get fired if congestion continues to rise?”
Critics of the mayor say the traffic czar should be hired by her office.
“The mayor should be the CEO of the City of Toronto, and rather than delegating, ducking, dodging responsibility for key files, she should wrap her arms around that,” says Beaches-East York Coun. Brad Bradford. “That’s an option she has today, with the strong mayor powers, she could set up this office, this position today.”
Toronto-Danforth Coun. Paula Fletcher says that someone keeping a close eye on congestion is a good thing.
“I don’t know if I want to use the word ‘czar’, but their like a drone, they’re seeing everything and all these places that’s working, that isn’t working. …Somebody who’s really watching what’s happening isn’t a bad idea.”
The new congestion czar position is expected to be filled in the next month, and their challenges will be enormous. There are 26 per cent more vehicles registered in the city than a decade ago, and the city continues to be the busiest in North America in terms of construction.
