Toronto Transportation Services
The Toronto Transportation Services, formerly Metro Roads and Works, is a division of the municipal government of Toronto. It is responsible for all public and non-provincially maintained roadways in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Organization and responsibilities
The department was created from the merger of:
- Metropolitan Toronto Transportation Department
- North York Transportation Department
- Scarborough Works Department
- Etobicoke Transportation Department
- City of York Transportation Department
- East York Transportation Department
- City of Toronto Department of Public Works and the Environment
Before amalgamation, Metro Toronto Transportation was responsible for major roads across Metro, while the municipalities were in charge of collector and local roads in their respective areas.
Transportation Services is divided into 4 service districts and 2 central services sections: Toronto East York, North York, Scarborough and Etobicoke York, Traffic Management Centre and Transportation Infrastructure Management. The Transportation Services Division is responsible for:
- road maintenance (approximately 10,033 different streets and 5,365 km of roads)
- over 2,100 traffic signals
- 7,100 km of sidewalks
- 55 km of bike lanes, 15 km of bike trails, and 30 km of bike routes
- 530 bridges
- 600 pedestrian crossovers
- over one million signs
- 4,100 bus shelters
- 5,556 kilometres of roads
- 124 kilometres of expressways
- 1,089 kilometres of main roads
- 814 kilometres of collector roads
- 3,236 kilometres of local roads
- 293 kilometres of laneways
- 9,500 streets
- 7,100 kilometres of sidewalks
Snow removal
The TTSD is responsible for snow removal on public roads, sidewalks and other public areas:
- Total kilometres of ploughed sidewalks: 6,000
- Total number of opened driveways: 262,000
A variety of city and contract staff/equipment are used for snow removal:
- 592 Road ploughs/graders
- 5 Metromelt melting machines
- PD-350 snow melting trailer units
- 296 sidewalk ploughs
- 211 salt trucks
- City staff: 536
- Contracted staff: 1,068
Average snowfall in the city is 130 cm per year with 40 to 50 days of de-icing events per year.
The city uses 10,220 tonnes of salt used in one storm; an average of 146,275 tonnes of salt is used each year (based on a ten-year average). The city's snow removal budget is over $60 million a year (2006 Winter Operations Budget: $62.5 million)
The Transportation Services is also responsible for a wide variety of activities include:
- Road and sidewalk maintenance
- Street cleaning
- Permits for on-street parking, construction and street events
- Traffic signs and pavement markings
- Traffic signals and traffic safety
- Red light camera operations
- Construction planning and policies
- Pedestrian and cycling issues
Traffic and Road Operations Sections
The Traffic and Road Operations Sections of Transportation Services are responsible for the following municipal matters:
- New traffic lights
- Reducing gridlock
- Traffic calming
- Road repairs - pothole repairs
- Anti-idling
Traffic Management Centre
The Traffic Management Centre consists of the Traffic Safety, Traffic Plant Installations and Maintenance, and Urban Traffic Control Systems units. These units are responsible for:
- Red light cameras
- Central traffic signal systems
- Priority for Toronto Transit Commission and emergency vehicles (Toronto Fire Services, Toronto EMS, Toronto Police)
- Traffic Safety Unit providing traffic data and collision analysis
- Deployment of intelligent transportation systems to manage congestion
- Road Emergency Services Communications Unit expansion
- Pedestrian crossing signals
