How long does it take you to travel to across town? Congestion is one of Oakville's top issues. More than just an inconvenience, traffic congestion has a social-economic impact on the health and stress of commuters and their families, is a significant drag on our economy and is bad for the environment, too.

Oakville needs to manage growth before the growth happens.

With almost all growth planned a decade or more in advance, and with the Town of Oakville levying some of the highest development fees on new home construction in North America (on average a new homeowner will pay the town in excess of $91,000 in municipal development charges. Source: Bild Report, 2020), the Town should be able to better anticipate and manage traffic congestion on Town roads.

As Mayor, I will support increasing capacity on Oakville’s arterial roads to keep people moving. I will work with Council to improve the Town’s planning process to ensure we align the implementation of congestion management strategies with future development.

 Smart Traffic Technology Investments

Many communities are already benefiting from improved traffic flow through smart traffic management systems that:

• Synchronize traffic lights to keep traffic flowing continuously during heavy commuting hours.

• End needless stopping for traffic lights in the middle of the night when no other vehicles are around.

• Use real-time data to control traffic signals to optimize the flow of traffic through-out the city, in response to demand and need.

Oakville needs to invest in advanced smart traffic technology to improve traffic flow.

As Mayor, I will champion smart traffic technologies and ask Town engineers to bring forward proposals for the implementation of smart traffic technologies to reduce congestion and increase traffic flow. With homegrown companies like GeoTab, we should be leveraging our resources to make our town as free-flowing as possible.

Reduce the Number of Cars on the Road: Public Transit

It is important to recognize the need for a strong, efficient public transit system. It is essential to offering access to employment opportunities for Oakville residents, easing congestion on our roadways, attracting businesses to our Town, and minimizing environmental impact.

As Mayor I will be a tireless advocate amongst all levels of government to ensure GO transit access evolves and improves with the changing demands of our community.

As Mayor I will support electrification of the Town bus fleet and creative solutions to provide more efficient transit services like smaller buses and on-demand “home to hub” that takes advantage of smaller capacity buses.  

Reduce the Number of Cars on the Road: Promote Hybrid Working

If there was one positive outcome from COVID it's recognition that many people can successfully work remotely or in a hybrid way. Beyond relieving tens of thousands of onerous commutes, remote & hybrid work also reduces the number of vehicles on the road during peak times (and all the associated pollution).

As Mayor, I will be an advocate for hybrid work as a means to help reduce congestion and pollution. I will also challenge the CAO of the Town to maximize hybrid work at the Town or stagger hours of Town staff to reduce Town staff's contribution to peak drive time congestion.

Reduce the Length of Commutes: People Working Closer to Home

We know that one of the best ways to achieve a work/life balance is to reduce commute distances. Attracting new businesses to Oakville needs to be a priority to create more job opportunities locally for our residents. In addition to the positive economic benefits for citizens and increased tax revenue for the town, reduced commutes significantly reduce stress and pollution.

As Mayor, I will champion economic development that attracts more professional, high tech, office employers and businesses to Oakville so more people can work closer to home.