Studies find commuting could be a highway to poor health

Adding up the costs of traffic congestion Ontario's traffic congestion has become a very costly problem. Krista Sharpe explains.

A recent study out of The Canadian Centre or Economic Analysis (CANCEA) found that drivers in Ontario, “face mounting challenges from worsening traffic congestion.”

It states more than half of Ontario’s population lives in the GTHA, which is also one of North America’s fastest growing regions.

“In the GTHA, in 2024, 49.2 per cent of commuters experienced heavy congestion (three or more times per week), compared to just 19.8 per cent in the rest of Ontario.”

Home to a busy highway system, the GTHA and surrounding communities are dealing with “far more than just a traffic issue,” according to the study.

It found heavy congestion is slowing down and costing our economy billions of dollars annually.

“On average, over the last decade, congestion has cost the GTHA economy $10.1 billion annually, with an additional $2.7 billion impact on the rest of the province,” the report said, citing slow moving transportation as a key factor.

CANCEA also believes residents could be out spending more money within the economy if they weren’t sitting in traffic and spending increased money on gas due to idling.

“Over the past decade, the economic losses caused by congestion in the GTHA have been substantial, affecting real GDP, private investment, and job opportunities. For Ontario, these economic losses total $35.5 billion, or 2.9 per cent of the province’s 2024 economy, averaging an annual real-term economic loss of $12.8 billion in 2024.”

The report goes on to say drivers stuck in traffic see a reduced quality of life, restricted access to jobs, restricted access to social services and escalated infrastructure costs.

A study done by the University of Waterloo more than ten years ago, published in World Leisure Journal showed similar results.

Finding drivers with a commute time of about 50 minutes had a lower life satisfaction rate.

University of Waterloo Recreation & Leisure Studies professor, Steven Mock, one of the study’s authors says, “frustration with traffic congestion was one of the things that explained it.”

Adding, “The other explanatory mechanism here was physically active leisure. So, as people spent more time behind the wheel it meant, at the end of the day or during the course of their day, they didn't have as much time to spend in physically active leisure.”

Since then, Ontario’s population has only grown, and so have the highway headaches.

“Over the next 20 years, the population of Ontario is expected to grow by 4.2 million people, reaching 20.4 million,” CANCEA stated in their study.

According to CANCEA, while the growth in the number of cars on the road has increased along major highways, truck growth has increased in some more rural hubs. “Unsurprisingly, much of the growth in car traffic has been concentrated in expanding GTHA regions and nearby cities such as Barrie, London, and Kitchener-Waterloo,” according to the study.

The CANCEA study also shows Cambridge and Brantford as two cities showing increased truck traffic.

Both studies point to public transit as a helpful solution.

Mock and his fellow authors say finding a job closer to home, even if it’s lower pay, may be worth it.

“That's not to say the commuting is always a bad thing. Some people see commuting as a bit of a break or time to collect your thoughts. But by and large, the longer your commute time is, the bigger of an impact it has on your well-being,” Mock said.