“We can have aspirations to go to 62 million passengers, but if people can’t get to and from the airport, it’s just not going to happen,” said Aleem Kanji, manager of government affairs and stakeholder relations for the GTAA. “It will become a bottleneck, and people will fly in and out of different airports for their travel, which we don’t want to happen from our business perspective.”

So, what are some of the proposed solutions?

Adam Giambrone, former chair of the Toronto Transit Commission, said Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) and Light Rail Transit (LRT) should be leading transit options for cities like Toronto.

“This region is going to grow – we all know that. A million in Toronto and another million in the GTA – even when you project those numbers, we just don’t have the densities of jobs and/or trip generators to justify technology like subways, so when it comes down to it, BRT and LRT – those are growing incredibly around the world,” he said. “Africa, South America and part of Asia are going for BRT... Elsewhere in Europe, United States and other places (are) really focusing on LRT for cost-benefit analysis.”

Ian Hamilton, vice president of business development and real estate at Hamilton Port Authority, said an integrated transportation strategy is essential to address congestion in the GTHA.

“It is definitely encouraging to see the investments being made but one of the things I’d highlight, though, there is no main (transportation) policy for Ontario, so a lot of the investment is focused on road transportation and I don’t think we’re spending enough exploring alternative transportation modes,” he said.

Christopher Higgins, a PhD candidate at McMaster University questioned whether the multi-billion dollar Big Move initiative will improve commuter satisfaction considering it is anticipated to cut one-way travel time by a few minutes.

He proposed based on his research, it is congestion, not travel time that frustrates commuters.

“With no congestion or just very light congestion on your commute to work, dissatisfaction doesn’t really start to increase until about 60 minutes (one way) when you start to see 20 per cent of people become dissatisfied,” Higgins said. “When you start to experience congestion, you hit the 50 per cent of people becoming dissatisfied around the 35-minute mark one way to work and it increases after that.”

Carol Layton, deputy minister of the Ministry of Transportation, touted a number of initiatives and pilots aimed at getting goods and people across the GTHA in a more efficient and safe manner, such as extended semi-trailers, Metrolinx Union Pearson Express and distracted driving legislation.

She said the province’s transportation system will be in the spotlight next summer for the Pan Am/Parapan Am Games, which are expected to bring more than 200,000 visitors.

The ministry has partnered with municipalities, transit providers and other stakeholders to focus on moving athletes, officials and spectators around efficiently for the sports event – which features venues across a 10,000 square kilometre area in southern Ontario.

“This is going to be a showcase of us in terms of how we can move people and goods safely, efficiently and reliably,” she said.