Traffic gridlock in Halifax is wasting both time and money for motorists and businesses, according to a new report from GPI Atlantic.

The report, released Wednesday, found that Haligonians are spending at least $7 million every year in lost time and wasted fuel because of slow rush-hour traffic.

"Transportation is actually eating up more of people's budgets, and that's not all of those hidden costs that I mentioned — the environmental costs and so forth," said Ron Colman, GPI's executive director.

"So, I think for the average Haligonian, they're very aware that it's eating away at their household budget."

The study found that more than 90 per cent of this cost consists of time delay to motorists, and about seven per cent represents fuel wasted while idling and dealing with traffic. About three per cent is the cost of extra greenhouse gases emitted.

Haligonians directly spend 12.4 per cent of their household budgets — or an  average of $3,327 a year per person — to own, operate, and park their cars, the study found. That includes paying for gas, registration, insurance, repairs, and car payments.

Colman said those costs are just a small fraction of the full $2.7 billion annual cost of driving in HRM.

System not sustainable

The current system is not sustainable, he said, and the municipality must look at ways to improve public transit and encourage people to leave their cars at home.

The report found that Metro Transit's new express bus service is popular and proves that many commuters are willing to switch to mass transit if it is fast and convenient.

The continuing urban sprawl in Halifax has fuelled car-dependency, the report found, leading to increasingly severe traffic jams and environmental impacts.

Population growth has been fastest in Halifax's suburban and rural areas, with the suburban population growing by nearly five per cent in just five years and the ex-urban Hammonds Plains-Tantallon area by 17 per cent. In constrast, the urban core grew by less than two per cent.

The report projects that by 2026, over 75 per cent of the muncipality's population will live outside the uban core.

But the study also found that most people who live near a Metro Transit bus stop are not boarding a bus to go to work. In fact, 90 per cent of people living in urban and suburban areas of Halifax are within 500 metres of a transit stop, but only 11 per cent actually use a bus or ferry to get back and forth to work.

Public transit a key

Colman said public transit is the key to correcting the problems.

"If you make transit efficient, quick, and easy to use, then people will happily leave their cars at home," he said.

Leslie Falcone, of Lower Sackville, said the arrival of the express bus convinced her to park her car.

In the past, she drove every morning to her job in downtown Halifax. Falcone said the bus was faster and cheaper, but soon the the lineups started to grow.

"I just wish they had more buses for people because people really do want to use the service," Falcone said. "But, it's just really not being accommodating right now."