Urban Form and Travel Behavior as Tools to Assess Sustainable Transportation in the Greater Toronto Area

Abstract

The objective of this study is to examine whether the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) is moving toward or away from sustainable transportation through exploring the spatial and temporal changes of urban form and travel behavior, related policies and responses to these changes during the period between 1986 and 2006. Transportation services and infrastructure in the GTA are regulated by different governing bodies and at different scales and levels. Support for sustainable transportation initiatives has varied across governments and over time. It is important at this point to review the main initiatives taken by different governing bodies over the last several decades to achieve sustainable transportation in the GTA. By analyzing the Transportation Tomorrow Survey data through the last two decades, it can be determined whether these initiatives have been successful in making transportation in the GTA more sustainable or, alternatively, whether more measures should be taken to achieve transportation sustainability. The major finding of this study is that, overall, the GTA is not moving in the direction of sustainable transportation, and gives credence to the idea that demand-management interventions are needed as a transport policy to make transportation systems more sustainable in this area.