Raising speed limit likely to increase congestion

“Weather changes, and we’ve got 50 cars lined behind a truck“

Increasing speed limits on the 400-series highways for personal automobiles to 110 km/hour while leaving transport trucks governed at 105 could make congestion worse, not better, says risk management professional Shane Cutler.

He fears the law of unintended consequences might be triggered in raising speed limits for cars while trucks remain governed at 105 km/hour.

“Doug Ford hopes to decrease congestion on the highways. But there is no congestion to relieve on the highways outside of the Toronto area; and raising the speed limit won’t relieve congestion in Toronto, but could actually make it worse,” says Cutler

“The change is not going to ease congestion in the major centers. It’s going to cause problems in those areas. They’re not increasing the speed limit in the major centers. They’re only increasing it on the highways, where congestion is not a problem anyway.  

“When you increase speeds for auto drivers, you are actually reducing space between them and the trucks ahead of them because trucks can’t drive the same speed. When our weather changes and we’ve got 50 cars in a lineup behind a truck, they can’t see what’s going on in front of it. It’s just going to increase collisions,” Cutler notes.

“They’re all going to get to Toronto and sooner or later, the congestion is still going to be there.”

On October 2, Ontario Premier Doug Ford said in a press conference that the speed limit on all 400 series highways will be raised from 100 km/h to 110 km/h “where it is safe to do so.”

 “Earlier this year, we raised the speed limit on 10 additional sections of the 400 series highways, and today I’ve directed the minister to raise the speed limit to 110 kilometres on all 400 series highways where it is safe to do so,” Ford stated in his remarks to reporters and guests at an East York event highlighting the Ontario Line subway project.

In an email dated October 4, Transportation Minister Prabmeet Sarkaria’s office told Road Warrior News that while Ontario “continues to monitor highway operations,” there is no plan to increase the speed at which transport trucks are currently governed, which is 105 kilometers per hour.

Cutler, Shane Cutler of Cutler TCMS Inc. (Transportation Compliance Management Services) and CutlerEast Inc. would like to see Ontario return to a camera system for enforcement. “If there were cameras on the highway, it would help increase compliance with existing laws,” he says.