Folks need to remember the size of metropolitan Toronto; it rivals major cities in the States, and is building the roads for it. Well done. Just remember to use kilometers (the little numbers on the speedometer; that 100 is about 62 mph) and don't be fooled by gas prices (they sell by the liter; multiply by around four for a US gallon).
Not just roads, but Transit too! We're so far behind that our subways are getting clogged and we need relief. GO in the suburbs is also being shifted from Commuter Rail into Regional Rail. Lots of construction within the next two decades.
Yea, Toronto has a similar metro population to Dallas/Houston as of right now 2023. I think in North America they place as the 6th biggest metro, but likely to go higher soon with influx of immigrants from Eastern Europe/All parts of Asia. However, from what I know, Toronto's city council has pretty much given up on road development especially for highways, which is why they apparently made a deal to make the DVP/Gardiner provincially operated from now on. Honestly that is a benefit for drivers from the suburbs, heard city wanted to make Gardiner/DVP tolled, which essentially means no non-tolled highway to the city core. And trust me, Toronto would surely be greedy with the tolls.
@@bigdripbobz1072 You're missing some important context. The problem with the Gardiner/DVP was that the rebuild cost took up > 50% of the city's transportation budget for the next decade. It has been a glutton with infrastructure costs for decades. The highway was originally made due to pressures from the province, and in the 90s, basically passed off the buck to the city. It should either be torn down, or tolled, because it's not fair that Etobicoke & Scarborough have to deal with crumbling roads while we priorities all the money towards re-building an antiquated highway. The deal freed up over $1 billion, that will be put to use on roads, transit, and policing.
@@moho472 Both have just been uploaded by the province. They were always municipal highways. They were built by the original City of Toronto in the 50's. It was Kathleen Wynne that canceled the tolls.
@@rongoesCDN They were built by Metro Toronto, yes. However, the original plan was to make it a toll road, but was quashed by the Province in the 50s. Today's Gardiner wasn't owned by Metro Toronto. Harris downloaded the section between the QEW -> Highway 427 after, putting more pressures on the transportation budget.
Mike, if the opportunity should present itself, please visit Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. Unlike Toronto that features the 401, Winnipeg, a city of 750,000 has no limited access roadways. The city is in constant gridlock and people are encouraged to use active transportation (i.e. walk, ride a bicycle or maybe take a bus). Did I mention that Winnipeg has a brutal winter that lasts 5 months and routinely sees 20 below with a strong north wind, perfect walking weather. The dream of many, no highways and cars the can’t move, is on full display in Winnipeg. I would value your expert opinion.
Oh man, the 401 haha, what a scene from my past memories growing up there in the city core and taking commutes to my internships and my first job. Working remotely now from outer suburbs of the GTA which is a relief, but looking to relocate to the US South soon, surely want to enjoy more months of warm weather personally. As soon as October comes in, it gets depressing here haha, unless u like the indoors of course.
My dads from toronto..my mom knew somebody from maple leaf plaza..toronto maple leafs are my favorite hockey team.that and the nashville preds..ive both apps on my phone.and the toronto blue jays mlb team..welcome to my neck of the woods..😊😊😊❤❤❤
@@tameikabrown It was a slog. Traffic was incredibly slow, and I had to put so much energy into not getting hit by boneheaded drivers. It's even worse during the winter. I ended up moving near a GO Train and I take the subway. The commute might be 10 minutes longer on average, but at least I can read my books & listen to my music in peace.
Where are the trucks? Did they take the day off? I've driven often all over the east 401 from and to Toronto and they are always trucks almost in parity with the cars.
25:50 Something to note here; Allen Road, or The Allen as it's known locally, is a bit of a weird freeway stub relic. It was originally going to be the cancelled Spadina Expressway, but this is about where Jane Jacobs comes in. Honestly, as a former Torontonian, I think the city's better off not having this particular freeway. The Spadina corridor is historically one of the densest parts of Toronto, putting a freeway through it is a bit daft especially in hindsight.
We needed it. We still need it. People needlessly drive for ages to reach the 427 or the DVP to get out of town. If it had been built in 1970 like it was supposed to be, nobody would miss what they never knew and people would wonder how they would ever have managed without it. Prove me wrong. Can you name a farm you miss that's today part of the 401? Did the DVP rob you of the dozens of miles of interconnecting trails that crosscross the Don Valley? Do you miss having to fight your way up Brown's Line to make your flight on time?...
@@miammissophiapetrillo Jane Jacobs thought every city was New York with exactly the same character, exactly the same issues, and exactly the same solutions. She had a cookie-cutter approach to urban planning that suited Toronto about as well as Latin grammar rules suit English, and today we're living with the consequences of people who drank the Lower Manhattan Koolade sixty years ago.
Enjoyed the ride on the Ontario Highway 401. Figured you would had run into traffic on it. Also by the way, how does this configuration compare to the New Jersey Turnpike in your opinion Mileage Mike?
NJ Turnpike is better due to the tolls and restricting trucks to the outer lanes. What hurts the 401 is that the bypass further from the city (the 407) is tolled. So you get a situation similar to Austin, TX with I-35 and TX 130. Logically the route closer to the city should be tolled and the bypass should be free to encourage more traffic to use the bypass.
@@MileageMikeTravels This is something Ontario has none other than Mike Harris to thank for. The Harris government of the mid-late 90s went on a privatisation and amalgamation spree in the name of cost-cutting, which not only had the opposite effect (budgets of amalgamated municipalities--especially Toronto--are a right mess), but also created this issue with the 401 and 407 to begin with, as his government sold it off to a Spanish-led private consortium on a 99-year lease. The province has been paying for that mistake ever since.
Only driven on the 401 so not fair for me to answer, but I do gotta say it is the most interesting. In a past Mileage Mike video, I remember he was talking about the New Jersey Turnpike and the great results it has provided for the busiest region of America based mainly off its collector-express system. Well damn, if that's the busiest (by almost 10x the population, and the style of Hwy 401 in the GTA is similar to the NJT (Collector-Express System), granted the 401 doesn't take in tolls, it is very surprising how busy the 401 is then. 401 surely is an experience, and just as a constant Toronto driver in the past, the 401 surely made me lose my patience more easily than the DVP/Gardiner, just my opinion. Maybe due to the highway length differences and the expectation of a wider highway going at faster paces than what is the 401 in Toronto.
I'd be interested to hear your thoughts about the 401 in Toronto and the feasibility of such a large scale collector/distributor system as the backbone of such a big metropolitan region. It does seem as if a road that is set up like the 401 should be better at handling an extreme volume of traffic versus having 10-14 lanes with one median like what you would see in Atlanta or Houston.
It's better than Atlanta and Houston but Houston in particular has a much higher density of highways that keeps the Katy free flowing most of the day in comparison. Atlanta doesn't have many freeways but having the Perimeter helps it there as well while Toronto's "bypass" route (The 407) is tolled which encourages more people to use the 401.
@@MileageMikeTravels : That wouldn't be true if the tolls were held at US levels. I've driven the length of the NYThruway from I- 287 NJ to Albany and it did not cost me more than $10 in the cash era and with the transponder. I-476PN cost $14cash From Philly to Scranton. Besides there would be more utility for the occasional user if the 407ETR and the A-30 and A-25 bridges adopted EZ-Pass like the Thousand Islands Bridge authority did.
@@rongoesCDNThe 407 is a privately-owned road, with the consortium that controls it having a 99-year operational lease. They have zero impetus to charge reasonable tolls. The only sin of the A25 and A30 bridges is that you still have to stop at a booth, the toll is actually pretty reasonable for Quebec lol
I always thought that the QEW was the 401. I've done some training in Mississaqua but I flew up for that. Funny memory (this was years ago) a friend and I were trying to kill sone time before a flight so we went to check out a strip club close to the airport. They refused us service either because we only had shorts on or we didnt have a collared shirt. Only Canada.
Notice passing on the roll right, no signals when changing lanes, and left lane hogs when there is room to move to the right. As soon as you hit Mississauga towards Toronto, it becomes the most ridiculous mess and worst design highway. The 401 expands to express and collector lanes. Go move from express to collectors, you must merge into the left lane. Who does that, those who are incompetent in road design. To avoid it the 407 is used to skip the mess. Ontario government sold 99 yr lease for 3.5 Billion dollars 20 yrs ago with tool fees increased 300% making the most profitable company in Canada. Ontario has never approached infrastructure with good design to all people to move in southern Ontario without owning a car. Hence clogging the highways. This video is not taken during rush hour or most likely on a week day.
Ontario has only one toll road btw that is the 407 ETR which runs parallel to the 401 just through the northern suburbs, bypassing the busier southern portions of the GTA. However, certainly is a waste of money to get a transponder for the toll road (just search up online how expensive it is compared to regular US tolls), unless if u live in such an ideal scenario where ur home to work travel is better through the 407.
The collectors are for local traffic and entrances and exits at intermediate exits. Only the major interchanges like the 427, 409, DVP/404..etc. get direct access to the express lanes.
Good it is illegal to smoke recreational weed in Ontario Canada 🇨🇦 according to some of the screens and most of the screens display detailed safety information in text or images and we don't have that in any US state or only text from on the freeway screens
Legal nationwide, actually! Those signs are required by federal law, as all regulations pertaining to cannabis are written by Ottawa and enforced at the provincial level. The LCD screen signs *are* cool, though.
It's illegal to drive under the influence, whether that be from alcohol, marijuana, or any other drug. Since there aren't marijuana breathalyzers, there's no legal limit for the amount of marijuana you're allowed to consume while driving, so they just give a blanket advisory not to smoke weed.
@@jayflock7446 According to who? This is a self-proclaimed title; I've driven this stretch of road many times. At its peak, it is lite compared to the majority of major metropolitans in the United States.
@@thebabbler8867the sheer volume of cars going on the 401 is much more than the busiest freeway elsewhere. Plus the 401 has like 18 lanes, much wider than most freeways. Can u imagine how congested it would be if the 401 was the width of a typical interstate?
@@thebabbler8867 It should be noted that being busy doesn't necessarily mean being gridlocked, though the 401 is certainly no stranger to that. That being said, MTO data from 2019 pinned the busiest section of the 401 at a total volume of 450,300 vehicles/day, and the GTA average around 320k, so the claim is certainly not unfounded.
