March 31, 2026
The evidence is overwhelming. Investing in transit is one of the best ways to reduce economic damage — worth billions of dollars every year — caused by congestion.
The Toronto Region Board of Trade summed it up in a report issued in March, 2026, called Breaking Gridlock: Finishing the Job through Provincial Action. Quoting a report from the Canadian Centre for Economic Analysis (CANCEA), the Board of Trade noted that “congestion costs Ontario $56.4 billion annually, including $44.7 billion in the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area (GTHA) alone.”
The costs include $10 billion in lost productivity, $2 billion in unrealized investment and a drag on job creation, with 88,000 jobs lost annually.
In a Climate Action Plan developed for the City of Hamilton, Econometrics Research estimated that over a period of 16 years (3015-2031), an average increase in transit ridership of just over one percent per year would save commuters nearly $25 million, based on a cost of $1.23 per litre for gas.
RETURN OF 12.5% PER YEAR
A 2010 study by the Canadian Urban Transit Association concluded that the total economic benefit to Canada of transit was “at least $10 billion, and likely considerably more.” Canadian households saved about $5 billion per year by reducing vehicle operating costs. Capital investment in transit of about $10 billion between 2002-2010 produced nearly $21billion in total economic output. A cost-benefit analysis of large‐scale national investment in transit would result in a total return of 12.5% per year over a period of 30 years.
Download the Board of Trade report (opens in a new tab)
Download the Hamilton Climate Action Plan study (opens in a new tab)
Download the Canadian Urban Transit Association study (opens in a new tab)