Survey: Southwestern Ontario Transportation Planning Study

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About the study

This study builds on Ontario’s draft transportation plan for southwestern Ontario that was released in 2020. We are now examining current and future transportation gaps and opportunities across southwestern Ontario, including connections to the rest of Ontario and the USA to develop long-range planning goals.

This survey will collect your feedback on the study goals and options. Your responses will help us understand what southwestern Ontario residents, workers and visitors want to see in their transportation system.

About the survey

This survey should take 15 minutes to complete. We recommend that you review summaries of the first 3 phases of the study before completing the survey.

You can save and return to your responses at any time by creating an account and logging in. When you have completed all the questions you would like to answer, please continue to the end of the survey to submit your responses.

Privacy statement

MTO is solely responsible for the contents of this survey. Your responses to the survey are voluntary. Confidentiality of your information is protected under the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act. All responses will be processed, stored, and used in a form that does not permit any entity to be identified. Personal information will not be made publicly available, associated with individual responses, or disclosed in publication nor public-facing materials that may be produced. If you have any questions, please contact: swplan@ontario.ca.

Study goals and outcomes

There are 6 main goals for the Southwestern Ontario Transportation Planning Study. The goals are used throughout the study to identify needs and opportunities, determine and evaluate potential solutions, and to measure the success of actions developed later in the planning process.

The goals are:

  • Goal 1: connecting people and places: ensure people get where they want to go as efficiently as possible
  • Goal 2: supporting a competitive business environment: make sure the transportation system supports business needs and goods movement
  • Goal 3: providing more choice and convenience: offer good options for those who don’t want to or can’t use cars
  • Goal 4: increasing health, safety and inclusion: make sure the transportation system supports health, keeps people safe, and is inclusive of everyone’s transportation needs
  • Goal 5: preparing for the future: the transportation system needs to be adaptable to the risks and opportunities of the future
  • Goal 6: ensuring environmental sustainability: the transportation system must be environmentally sustainable
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Long list of options

We are exploring options for southwestern Ontario to achieve each goal.

At a later stage of the study, we will evaluate the long list of options to create a short list of recommendations for the final plan.

Questions in this section are meant to measure how well each option would achieve the study goals and whether any options are missing.

This survey will ask one question for each of the study’s 6 goals. You may skip any question by hitting the “next” button and will have the opportunity to suggest additional options at the end of this section.

Goal 1: Connecting people and places

Ensure people get where they want to go as efficiently as possible.

  1. The proposed options for goal 1 consist of the following:
    1. Implement targeted improvements along provincial highways with high traffic volumes and congestion, including through infrastructure projects and other supporting strategies. Example options include:
      1. continue expansion of the Increased Speed Limits Pilot Program
      2. explore opportunities for ramp metering and Advanced Traffic Management System (ATMS) on 400-series highways
      3. study congestion mitigation measures for Highways 6, 10, 21 and 40
    2. Improve performance and resilience of Highway 401 between Highway 402 and the Greater Golden Horseshoe (that is, between City of London and Waterloo Region).
    3. Promote transit-oriented land use, such as development of housing along rapid transit corridors.
    4. Work with the federal government to explore opportunities to reduce border crossing delays through improved operations, increased capacity and addressing regulatory challenges.
    5. Improve transit connectivity in rural and/or underserved areas including through on-demand, micro-transit and other alternative service models. Example options include:
      1. improve or provide new intercommunity passenger transportation connections with high travel demand and low access to major hubs
      2. explore incentives for employers to align work hours with service schedules
    6. Support ferry-based transportation through schedule improvements, amenities, fare adjustments and increased engagement with community needs.
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Make sure the transportation system supports business needs and goods movement.

The proposed options for goal 2 consist of the following:

  • 2.1    Explore opportunities to streamline regulation for the trucking industry, including the development of a Long Combination Vehicle network and facilitating truck inspections.
  • 2.2    Strengthen connections from marine ports, airports, and railyards to the road network to support the safe and efficient movement of goods.
  • 2.3    Facilitate marine goods movement through improvements to ports and through ferry services where appropriate.
  • 2.4    Support agricultural industries through infrastructure and programs that improve access to agrarian communities and accommodate large and slow-moving vehicles.
  • 2.5    Promote use of freight rail to relieve environmental and traffic impacts of road-based goods movement. 
  • 2.6    Ensure shortline railways remain able to support local industrial economies.
  • 2.7    Promote transportation sector employment opportunities, including airports, ports, railyards and public transit operations.
  • 2.8    Develop southwestern Ontario as an aviation education and maintenance destination. 
  • 2.9    Support marine tourism, including cruises and destinations accessed by ferry.
  • 2.10    Ensure transportation networks support tourism industry, such as providing improved wayfinding and access to destinations. 
     
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Offer good options for those who don’t want to or can’t use cars.

The proposed options for goal 3 consist of the following:

  • 3.1    Prepare for new cross-border passenger transit and rail services.
  • 3.2    Continue to work with the federal government to explore the opportunity for High Frequency Rail.
  • 3.3    Implement transportation demand management measures to alleviate traffic and environmental impacts of travel, such as carpool lots, remote work, and road pricing systems.
  • 3.4    Support and expand regional transit coordination initiatives.
  • 3.5    Work with local and regional service providers to develop mobility hubs and improve integration between passenger rail and local transit networks.
  • 3.6    Improve first- and last-mile connectivity to and from transit nodes.
  • 3.7    Support interconnections between regional airports and their surrounding transportation networks.
  • 3.8    Improve effectiveness and competitiveness of inter-community transit.
  • 3.9    Expand and promote passenger rail services, in partnership with the federal government, VIA Rail, municipalities and Metrolinx.
  • 3.10    Enhance separation between passenger rail and freight rail, in partnership with Transport Canada, Class I railways and other stakeholders.

 

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Make sure the transportation system supports health, keeps people safe, and is inclusive of everyone’s transportation needs.

Below are the proposed options under Goal 4.

  • 4.1    Implement targeted measures to reduce collisions involving adverse weather, vulnerable road users, road-rail crossings and to increase compliance with rules of the road. 
  • 4.2    Mitigate impacts of road-rail crossings, including through enhanced separation
  • 4.3    Increase availability and quality of rest areas for commercial and passenger vehicles
  • 4.4    Improve connectivity and quality of interregional cycling network
  • 4.5    Provide equitable access to critical services and employment using public transit.
  • 4.6    Identify and implement transportation initiatives tailored to the needs of and opportunities related to Indigenous communities.
  • 4.7    Combat human trafficking through training to increase recognition and reporting, posting educational material with the Canadian Human Trafficking Hotline and working with key partners, including MTO agencies, to increase awareness of human trafficking.
  • 4.8    Assess and address transportation needs in equity-deserving communities (for example, Indigenous and racialized communities, low-income communities, rural communities, and persons with disabilities) through service guidelines, funding considerations and other policy mechanisms. 

 

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The transportation system needs to be adaptable to the risks and opportunities of the future.

The proposed options for goal 5 consist of the following:

  • 5.1    Increase network resilience and reliability by expanding the Emergency Detour Route (EDR) network, improving incident response, increasing use of intelligent transportation systems (ITS) and other measures.
  • 5.2    Explore opportunities to improve financial sustainability of regional airports.

  • 5.3    Explore new funding opportunities for transit services. Examples include:

    •   identify long-term funding opportunities for rural and intercommunity services
    •   explore a second intake of the Community Transportation Grant Program 
    •   provide dedicated funding for tourist-centric transportation services

    5.4    Increase visibility and availability of real-time traveller information on highways, incorporating new data sources and improving data quality.

  • 5.5    Expand the availability of information about special commercial vehicle policy areas and heavy vehicle permissive routes to both operators and the public.
  • 5.6    Establish data collection programs on airports, ports and ferry service providers.
  • 5.7    Enhance consistency and accessibility of data on passenger transportation system performance and operations to operators, municipalities and riders.
  • 5.8    Prepare for new and emerging railway and airport technologies.
  • 5.9    Prepare for new and emerging railway and airport technologies.

 

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The transportation system must be environmentally sustainable.

The proposed options for goal 6 consist of the following:

  • 6.1    Support the adoption of zero-emission buses. 
  • 6.2    Support the adoption of electric vehicles through collaborations with industry partners to encourage private investment into low-emission technology solutions and expansion of the alternative fueling station network.
  • 6.3    Manage and respond to climate risks on highway infrastructure to promote resilience.
  • 6.4    Work with transportation industry stakeholders to mitigate climate risks on infrastructure and provide support for climate resilience. 
  • 6.5    Establish resources to enable integration of climate change considerations into future transportation plans.
  • 6.5    Continue to support and advance efforts to make the marine sector more environmentally sustainable.

 

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Respondent Information

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