Chow announces 75 new Traffic Agents to help clear gridlock
Update: This article was updated at 6am January 13th with a new photo and quotes from drivers.
Toronto plans to train and hire 75 additional new “Traffic Agents” to manage traffic flow across the city, Mayor Olivia Chow announced on January 9th. Added to the 25 agents Toronto currently uses, the $3 million investment in 2025 will quadruple the number of Traffic Agents working to reduce gridlock.
“Last year at this time, we saw a total gridlock right here in this intersection,” Chow said, speaking from the intersection of King and University.
“It was almost faster to walk than to take the King streetcar. TTC riders were stuck on the streetcar fuming, while cars blocked the intersection and nothing was moving. Drivers were honking because cars were stopped illegally. Everyone was frustrated and mad…but, in come the Traffic Agents!
“They’ve stopped 96 per cent of intersection blocking; they’ve reduced travel time by 33 per cent.”
When she was first elected mayor, Chow points out, there were only four Traffic Agents. The next class of 48 trained agents will graduate in spring 2025. Toronto Police Services will also provide some officers as Toronto works to hire and train the remaining agents.
Of the original 25 Traffic Agents, Eagles Taxi driver Cengiz Gûlkan told Taxi News he has seen the Agents working specifically at the York Ramp to the Gardiner and Spadina.
“But overall, the problem is the entire downtown: traffic, bike lanes, construction, new design of the street lights, re-arrangement of one way signs in NIMBY neighbourhoods all contribute. They should criminalize owning a driver licence and purchasing a car, and get it over with.”
Veteran Taxi driver Jafar Mirsalari notes, “Toronto doesn’t even talk about Uber and its role in congestion and politics….To tell you the truth, I don’t see or even feel any important change in Toronto’s traffic chaos and congestion, it’s gotten even worse. People are still blocking the intersections, cutting each other off, and road rage is to the roof.”
