Post- Automobility: Applying Best Practices for Reducing Car Dependence to Toronto

What would a car-free downtown Toronto look like? As the threat of climate change looms and cities around the world prioritize public health, it is increasingly clear that cars, particularly those fueled by gasoline, are detrimental to a city’s resilience, health, and vibrancy. Cities, including Toronto, are establishing goals of reducing car dependency and encouraging more people to use public transit, walk, or cycle. But our relationship with the car is one of path-dependent lock-in, with entrenched connections between the car and political economy, implications for the way we use land and space, and notions of individualism and the “good life”. To truly break the grip that the car has on our urban spaces, interventions must be taken to disincentivize driving and make cars the least palatable choice of transportation mode. A review of case studies of cities from around the world reveals several practices in street design that could be employed in Toronto to discourage car use in the city’s dense downtown area. Four possible design interventions are explored for two of Toronto’s street types: the expressway, and the arterial.