Toronto needs to get more cars off the road to meet greenhouse gas reduction targets set by council earlier this year, according to a report by the deputy city manager.

Richard Butts recommended sweeping changes to deter drivers in a report to the Public Works and Infrastructure Committee on Wednesday.

The report calls for:

Pedestrians

  • More temporary pedestrian streets and zones, similar to "Pedestrian Sundays" in Kensington Market, and a permanent pedestrian street;
  • "Scramble" intersections, where traffic in all directions would have to stop at the same time while pedestrians cross the street;
  • Increased pedestrian walking times at the intersection of Bloor and Bay streets, and Bloor and Yonge streets;
  • Narrowing roads to widen sidewalks and enhance landscaping; and
  • A "green corridor plan" to establish priority north-south green corridors across the waterfront.

Cycling

  • A bike station in Union Station;
  • A Bike Share program for City staff and proposals for commuter and community public bike share programs;
  • An east-west bicycle route through the downtown area by 2009;
  • A bikeway on Bloor Street and Danforth Avenue, from Royal York Road to Victoria Park Avenue; and
  • Bike trails in rail and hydro corridors.

Parking

  • Modifications to peak-period stopping and parking restrictions on main roads city-wide;
  • Parking facilities for commuters throughout the GTA;
  • Higher traffic signal priority for transit vehicles that are running behind schedule;
  • Lanes for transit vehicles to pass traffic at congested intersections;
  • Shoulder bus lanes on the Don Valley Parkway, between York Mills Road and Lawrence Avenue East; and
  • Traffic cameras to enforce turning, stopping and parking laws designed to improve transit service.

Councillor Glenn De Baeremaeker, the committee's chair, says it's time for the city to seriously consider car-deterring initiatives, such as road tolls and more pedestrian-centric traffic stops.

"If you have to drive your car, you want (other) people ... who can cycle to work, or walk to work, or take the streetcar to work," Baeremaerker said.

"The more people we get to voluntarily leave their cars, the faster people get to work who actually do drive cars --so this is a plan that will benefit everybody."

But The Canadian Automobile Association says the changes wouldn't support the city's growing population.

"I don't think that the solution is to narrow our existing roads," Faye Lions, a spokesperson for the association, said.

"The city of Toronto is looking at a million more people in the next couple of years."

The recommendations come after a plan to combat climate change was approved by city council in July.

The report says most of the proposals could be implemented with funds from the city's transportation budget for the next two years.

The city will have to make the changes in order to meet its reduction targets for greenhouse gas emissions and smog-causing pollutants, according to the report.