If this is the season of construction, it is also an era of too many cars, meaning there is no shortage of commuting chaos across the city.
The most heavily travelled intersections — the total of vehicle and pedestrian totals — happen to be downtown.
It’s probably no surprise that the busiest spot in the city is an area that appears chaotic even during the quietest hours: the intersection at Yonge and Dundas Streets. Total traffic volume in a single day: 129,704, based on data collected by City of Toronto Transportation Services.
The numbers measure the total pedestrian and vehicle traffic over 24 hours, as recorded on a single day by the city. The data, which was captured between 1999 and 2012, does not include cyclists.
Based on driving alone, Steeles Ave. E. and Hwy. 404 experienced the heaviest flow of vehicles — 107,356 of them — driving in and out of the city. Add the 1,000 brave pedestrians, and it becomes the 6th most busy intersection in the city.
Further down the list are University Ave. and Dundas St. (94,949) at No. 15; Bay and Bloor Streets (89,584) at No. 24; Steeles Ave. W. and Bathurst St. (86,993) at No. 30; and the Yonge and Bloor intersection (82,992), which has a heavy flow of both cars and pedestrians, at No. 48
College St. and Spadina Ave. — which is closed for TTC upgrades for three weeks — ranks 312th (55,134).
That’s what the numbers say.
What do you think? Tell us which intersection you think is the busiest, in the comments below.