Traffic congestion not that bad in Edmonton compared to other cities: report

EDMONTON - Edmonton has shed its status as one of the 10 most traffic-clogged cities in North America, according to a report by an Amsterdam-based company that produces vehicle-navigation systems.

Edmonton ended up near the bottom of the pack, in 23rd spot, based on recent data.

The same report, the first quarterly congestion index by TomTom, which covers 26 major cities, identified Vancouver as the most traffic-congested city in Canada and the second most congested in either Canada or the United States.

Two other Canadian cities made the top 10 for traffic congestion: Toronto (No. 9) and Ottawa (No. 10).

The company used data from its navigation-system customers to calculate the increase in time spent in traffic during peak congestion periods.

Last year, Edmonton ranked as the eighth most congested city among the six Canadian and 20 U.S. cities analyzed.

Brice Stephenson, Edmonton’s manager of transportation operations, said it was good news to see the city plummet to 23rd spot on the GPS company’s gridlock grid. That ranking is more in line with where Stephenson said he would expect to see Edmonton compared to cities such as Atlanta, Ga., New York City, Houston or Chicago.

While the city has no input into the list, Stephenson said there are several factors that would contribute to the improvement in 2012 over 2011. For one, he said, the most recent winter was more mild than the previous year, which means there was less snow and ice to slow traffic.

“Certainly the other big contributing factor was the on-street construction in 2011,” Stephenson said. “We had a lot of things going on last summer that were really badly affecting traffic: the Quesnell Bridge, the Anthony Henday Drive construction, St. Albert Trail and the Scona Road closure. You put all those things together and most people travelling around the city last year were being affected by construction.”

This summer, there is less construction along major arteries and the improvements, such as an eight-lane Quesnell Bridge, are making travel smoother, he said.

While there are major public works projects underway in the city, such as the Jasper Avenue construction and work on the LRT line to NAIT, it has not affected as many drivers as the 2011 projects. As the LRT system expands, the city also is seeing more commuters shift to LRT.

Stephenson noted that Calgary’s ranking also improved, falling to the 16th spot compared to 13th place at this time last year.

Nick Cohn, head of congestion research for TomTom, said the company hopes the data it collects can help people plan their commutes better.

“We also hope that it helps city governments understand a little bit about their relative position and see maybe over time whether their efforts to change the mobility situation in their region are really working,” he said.