Abstract Manager

Connecting the GGH: A Transportation Plan for the Greater Golden Horseshoe was developed to meet transportation challenges for the region, home to 10 million people and expected to reach 15 million within the next 30 years. The plan is the first of its kind in Ontario, developed through an integrated evaluation process in a planning initiative at this scale.

A key challenge in this work was creating an effective evaluation framework that could compare the relative benefits of different combinations of road and transit infrastructure and service options across multiple goals, such as network connectivity, integration, equity, health and safety, environmental and economic sustainability, system resilience, and prosperity. The framework required measures of effectiveness (MOEs) to quantify scenario performance against each goal at a local and region-wide level, using results from the Ontario Ministry of Transportation’s regional activity-based travel demand forecasting model.

The MOEs were based on their ability to model a unique aspect of system performance (not duplicating other measures), to cover each goal and to be quantified effectively, supported by research into the applicability of similar metrics in other regional plans. The process involved the evaluation of an initial 700 potential infrastructure projects and service options, taken from existing transportation plans and supplemented by new ideas and concepts. This evaluation was achieved by grouping them into compatible network options, modelling and comparing the performance of these networks against the goals and then progressively narrowing the list through multiple iterations of performance assessments. This method was able to evaluate the system effect of multiple modes of travel at a regionwide and sub-regional level. Resilience was also captured with 50-year “what-if” analyses looking at the impact of disruptive phenomena such as a global pandemic, and with land use sensitivities considering alternative ways in which growth could evolve throughout the region.  

The end product was a coherent set of selected high-performing infrastructure projects and service enhancements that formed a defensible basis for a recommended 30-year network that aims to enhance regional connectivity and quality of life across the Greater Golden Horseshoe.