Winnipeg's traffic problems are growing faster than the improvements designed to eliminate them, Metro Chairman Dick Bonnycastle said Tuesday.
He told the Winnipeg Real Estate Board at the Royal Alexandra Hotel the number of motor vehicles is growing faster than the physical streamlining of the street system undertaken by Metro.
"This will necessitate making the best possible use of existing streets, requiring more one-way streets, moe parking restrictions, better winter maintenance of streets and a modernized and co-ordinated traffic signal system," he said.
The number of passenger motor vehicles in Metro Winnipeg increased from 29,000 in 1946 to 133,000 in 1964 — a 355 per cent increase, he said.
To help combat the potential colossal traffic jam, a transportation planning group is working on a long-range urban transportation study, designed to meet the needs of the area over the next 25 years, said Mr. Bonnycastle.
"This is a highly complex study, but vitally important as the resulting works will be extremely costly — but esstential to keep the community functioning efficiently in the face of growth envisaged."
Once the mass of background data is accumulated, analysis will be made on a computer to produce a "balanced transportation plan to accommodate the needs of the community as it grows, including rapid transit and expressways."
Whether rapid transit will be on rails — subway or surface — or as exclusive lanes on expressways will not be known until the plan is completed, he said.
The transit system is being modernized by elminating trolley buses within the next few years, improving bus maintenance facilities, and the maintenance of subsidies and moderate fares to maintain transit usage.