‘It’s not going to be business as usual’: Experts weigh in on World Cup’s impact on Toronto congestion

CP24’s Courtney Heels has the latest on the preparations the TTC is making for the FIFA World Cup.

The FIFA World Cup is coming to Toronto at a time when tourists historically flock to the city for a myriad of concerts, sporting events, and festivals.

Both Canada Day and Pride festivities will overlap with World Cup events in the city as Blue Jays games fill the Rogers Centre and summer concerts pack music venues across the downtown core.

“Toronto is usually hopping to begin with,” Wayne Smith, the director of Toronto Metropolitan University’s Institute for Hospitality and Tourism Research, told CP24.

“It will be interesting to see how the different kind of festivals, events, July 1st, all come together.”

City officials have previously said that World Cup traffic alone could add up to 15 per cent to the number of vehicles in the downtown core on match days.

Although Toronto has seen major events in the past, Smith noted that it is difficult to predict exactly how the World Cup will impact the city.

“Is this a Taylor Swift level event,” he asked.

“Or is it something else because people decide, ‘Oh, I’m going to go somewhere else. I’m not going to pay Toronto prices.’”

Smith noted that the high hotel prices and gridlock caused by major events can actually lead to “displacement,” prompting tourists to go elsewhere.

“Some people are saying, ‘I don’t want to come to Toronto. I don’t want to deal with traffic… or the hotel prices are too high, or I can’t get the reservations of the restaurants I want to get to,’” Smith said.

“There’s all kinds of things that can displace people.”

He noted that those coming to the city for other events will likely use regional transit to make day trips to the city rather than stay the night.

“A lot of the people who would normally stay downtown for things like Pride, or things like the other events downtown, the Blue Jay games or stuff like that, you may see them go further afield,” he said.

GO Transit previously said it will run nearly 3,000 weekly GO trips during the tournament, which will bring six matches to Toronto between June 12 and July 2. This represents a 30 per cent increase over service levels this winter, Sean Fuller, Metrolinx’s chief operating officer, told reporters last month.

The City of Toronto previously released details of its “transit-first” mobility plan during the World Cup.

Key transit routes will see an increase in service, including the Harbourfront and Bathurst streetcars serving Exhibition Place. Some roads, including a stretch of Lake Shore Boulevard, will also be closed for up to 10 hours on match days.

The Blue Jays will host home games on the same day as three World Cup matches in Toronto, including June 12, June 23, and June 26. The start time for the Jays game on June 23 was previously moved from 7:07 p.m. to 4:07 p.m. to avoid directly conflicting with Panama-Croatia that night.

There also other a handful of other major events planned for the city, including a concert by Megan Moroney at Scotiabank Arena on June 20 that will occur following a highly-anticipated World Cup game between Germany and the Ivory Coast at Toronto Stadium.

While there are not any concerts being held at the nearby RBC Amphitheatre on World Cup match days, there are several planned for the days between World Cup games, including June 21 (The Strokes), June 14 (MGK) and June 25 (Paul Simon).

The majority of Pride events, meanwhile will be held on the weekend before the parade on Sunday, June 28, potentially overlapping with the Germany-Ivory Coast game.

The Toronto Tempo will also play at Scotiabank Arena on June 27.

Smith said even with all of the activity in Toronto, the city is likely ready for the traffic impacts and increased activity.

“I think you’re going to see something sort of equivalent… like the Jays during the World Series last year,” he said.

“The World Cup is a big, big event but… we didn’t get in England coming here. We didn’t get France coming here, so I think we’ll be OK.”

‘Manage expectations’

Amer Shalaby, a professor at the University of Toronto’s department of civil and mineral engineering, said some cities have resorted to warning people to avoid non-essential car trips during major events.

Shalaby said the City of Toronto could proactively reach out to major employers in the city and request that they encourage employees who can work remotely to do so throughout the tournament.

“Encourage people to even take vacation during that time if they do not wish to be around congestion,” he added.

He said Torontonians would be wise to rely on active modes of transportation, including walking and biking.

Shalaby noted that while the city does have a comprehensive plan for managing the influx of people, the city could also follow the lead of other cities, including Vancouver, that have implemented a “standby fleet” for transit vehicles.

“I think the city could dedicate, for example, a standby fleet such that it can address any surge in crowds, and that’s something a lot of other cities do,” he said.

“You need to have some sort of a standby fleet for unexpected events. Those unexpected events could be a rise in in in the crowds… or some operational problem which requires that you shut down service.”

He noted that the city has already has experience hosting a major sporting event in the summer when Toronto hosted the PanAm Games in 2015.

“Big events have taken place in even more congested cities, (such as) London, Tokyo, and other places,” he said.

“One has to manage the expectations. There’s definitely going to be more congestion. So it’s not going to be business as usual.”