Ben’s Campaign Platform

Being stuck in traffic or waiting at red lights when there’s no cross-traffic is unacceptable. It’s 2026 and we really can do better.

If elected, I will push these four main solutions to improve traffic flow:

Road Work Coordination (operational)
Coordinate construction schedules more effectively, especially along parallel routes. By synchronizing work schedules across city departments, construction companies, and vendors, we can ensure that road improvements happen in high-intensity phases.

Off-Peak Construction (strategic)
Implement “second shift” requirements for critical main arteries (such as Highbury Ave, Fanshawe Pk Rd, Sunningdale Rd, and Clarke Rd). By shifting work to evenings or early mornings, we can minimize economic impacts, accelerate project completion, and improve worker safety and productivity during the hot summer months.

Smart Lights (short-term)
Update traffic lights with smarter software in 2027 and 2028 using current embedded hardware (no tearing up pavement). When there’s no cross-traffic, lights should change quickly and frequently so people don’t have to slam on their brakes or interrupt their trip and wait minutes for nothing.

Clearer Signals (medium-term)
It’s frustrating to always be wondering if traffic lights know we’re waiting at intersections. Simply adding an “acknowledgement light” and a longer countdown timer lets all road users know what to expect. Our streets are safer for everyone when things are predictable.

Better Designs (long-term)
Replace inefficient intersection and road designs with roundabouts (where feasible) because they prevent full stops and decrease average commute time, while actually being safer for everyone.
When roundabouts aren’t feasible, make sure we have enough left-turn lanes to keep traffic flowing.

When walking or biking is a difficult or unsafe choice, Londoners choose to drive (or are forced to), which just creates more traffic for all Londoners.

We need an “AAA” (All Ages and Abilities) network that is safe and enjoyable for kids, seniors, commuters, and recreation alike so that those who can (or want to) choose to leave their car at home actually can.

If elected, I’ll be committed to prioritizing the connection of our AAA network through:

Closing the Gaps
No one should have to navigate a path that starts-and-stops abruptly (just like how roads don’t stop and start abruptly), so I will work to ensure London’s Active Transportation Network is fully connected so that trips (especially locally) don’t always require a car out of necessity.

True Separation
Make sure that when closing the AAA Network’s gaps, we require physical separation between vehicles and vulnerable road users (bicycles, mobility scooters, pedestrians).
We can’t complain that “no one’s using the bike lanes!” if we’re asking risk-averse residents (like children) to ride on a painted lane (unprotected) next to high-speed traffic.

Seamless Curb Designs
The skull-rattling transitions at every intersection need to be fixed to make our streets accessible and enjoyable for everyone. Not only are smoother transitions more enjoyable, it’s important for those using mobility scooters who currently face serious hazards from uneven surfaces.

London has a 144-page, multi-million dollar, multi-year, community-vetted Mobility Master Plan (MMP) that was approved by City Council in 2025 to guide our transportation needs through to 2050. 

Problem: Current Council tends to start from scratch every time a new traffic or transit decision comes up, and individual councillors often ignore the MMP based on personal preference or short-term political pressure. 

Solution: Councillors need to stick to the plan and be the leaders we need them to be (not second-guess the process we all already paid for). 

If elected, I will work to…

Lead by Example
If London’s City Councillors want to ignore or deviate from the MMP, they need to explain why in great detail. I’ll commit to using the MMP as my guide for every transportation vote, ensuring we’re building the future Londoners asked for (throughout years of community consultation).

Enforce MMP Alignment
Push for a formal requirement that all new transportation-related staff reports and motions brought to council must include a section explicitly stating how they align with (or deviate from) the approved MMP. 

Prioritize MMP Action Items
The MMP contains a comprehensive list of interconnected strategies which must all be pushed forward for the entire plan to work throughout the following decades. The plan also includes actions that were developed to achieve specific expected results. I will advocate for budgeting and staffing to prioritize these already-approved action items over new, unplanned pet projects.

Establish a Working Group
I will support the creation of a dedicated “Mobility Master Plan Working Group” to oversee the implementation of the MMP, ensuring accountability and progress tracking.

No free downtown parking passes for City Councillors. If everyone else pays, so should they.

If other candidates and city councillors are serious, too, then they need to be part of the solution, not part of the problem.

So, I’m committing to writing and introducing a motion that would require every city councillor (including me, if elected) to commute to City Hall using something other than a personal motor vehicle for at least 20 days per year (4 working weeks).

Other options could include walking, biking, taking transit, e-scootering, or anything else they might like to do, as long as it isn’t a personal motor vehicle (ie. car, truck) or a taxi/Uber.

If we’re serious about reducing traffic and supporting other transportation options, the people making the decisions should lead by example.

The current Traffic Calming petition process is genuinely frustrating and discouraging for residents all around London.

We need to empower our neighbours who are finding their pleas for safer streets falling on deaf ears after the City of London does a “quick 24-hour speed survey” and finds “everything to be fine and dandy,” even with numerous reported collisions and street racing. We need better from our Transportation Planning & Design department at the City of London.

As we’ve seen within the 2022-2026 term of City Council, the current process for reviewing the police budget happens too late in the cycle so that by the time the public is invited to speak (even with massive community interest), almost everything is already set in stone.

This has meant the opportunity for actual, meaningful change is lost. So, a system that moves from reaction to proactive planning is needed in London.

If elected, I will push for three changes to make sure our community’s priorities are heard before decisions are set in stone:

Draft Review Period (Early Engagement)
Instead of a single public hearing in the fall when the budget is finished, I will advocate for a “Draft Review” phase in the Spring and Summer.
This means Londoners will be able to provide their input while the budget is still being drafted, ensuring that the final version reflects Londoners’ needs.

Community Advisory Committee (Ongoing Input)
I will support the creation of a standing Public Safety Community Advisory Committee.
Members (volunteers) of this group would meet regularly with police leadership and city staff throughout the year to discuss priorities. And by having a consistent seat at the table, communities all across London will have a voice remains a constant factor in the planning process, not just a one-time comment at a public hearing.

Strategic Alignment (Fiscal Accountability) 
We must stop the “over-budgeting” on non-essential equipment. During the 2022-2026 term, significant funds were diverted toward heavy tactical equipment and specialized vehicles that do not serve the daily needs of our community. These “luxury” additions have contributed directly to the Property Tax Spikes that we are all feeling while also causing slashes to other community services (which help prevent crime in the first place). 

I will push for a “Necessity Audit” to ensure police spending is focused on community-based safety and local response instead of on high-cost equipment that drives up our tax bills.

I support a temporary moratorium on new AI datacentre approvals until a robust, localized regulatory framework is established.

We need to prioritize and protect everyday Londoners from the rapid expansion of mega-corporations (whose internal mottos are often “move fast and break things”) and their projects that offer very few municipal benefits to Londoners while, at the same time, strain our resources, infrastructure, budgets, public health, and environment.

AI-specific datacentres use 10 times more resources than “standard datacentres,” and provide very few jobs after initial construction (of which, non-local agencies and contractors are hired instead of London-based companies) so this is an important issue that the next council term may need to make decisions on, on behalf of Londoners.

I have much more to say about this topic, and you can read more about that by clicking here.

Empty buildings can’t continue to be allowed to sit and rot for decades through Land Banking while our communities remain underserved. Ontario’s laws limit the ways we (the City of London) can tax Vacant Commercial Properties directly, but the same laws also give us the power to manage how those spaces are licensed and used.

So, if elected, I’d use that power to move things forward by committing to introducing a motion for a Mandatory Public Vacant Commercial Property Registry featuring mandatory routine audits. 

This will identify: 

• which buildings are sitting empty
• their current status
• any structural issues
• emergency entrances and exits
• any hazardous materials present

This is a critical safety tool for our first responders which can only exist by maintaining an accurate record of what (and who) is inside these properties. This would be a vital risk-assessment tool that would equip all our Emergency Service teams with the vital information they need to keep themselves safe while saving Londoners’ lives.

The entire cost of this program (including all legal, administrative, and staffing costs) will be funded by the owners of those Vacant Commercial Properties, not by your property taxes. 

The vast majority of thousands of Ward 3 residents that I’ve talk to at their doors since May are frustrated when city projects (road work, construction, new developments, utility upgrades, park upgrades, etc.) lack clear communication and consistent updates. Londoners just want to know what and when is happening in their neighbourhoods and along their frequented commuting routes.

If elected, I will push for a Unified Project Coordination Initiative (UPCI) to fill the communication gap between city departments, contractors, agencies, and the public (Londoners like you).

This UPCI will include a publicly available, web-based Project Dashboard featuring a high-quality and easy-to-use User Interface and User Experience (UI/UX) to provide real-time updates on all active municipal projects. This tool will feature:

Live Project Status
Clear indicators for “Pending,” “Delayed,” “In Progress,” and “Completed” projects across all city departments and geographically across the City of London.

Interactive Mapping
A visual way for citizens to see exactly where work is occurring and how it impacts their daily lives, with the ability to “get granular” with filters, addresses, dates, times, company names, contact info, and more.

Estimated Timelines
Accurate windows for when work is expected to start and finish.

Proposed Detours
Accurate and up-to-date planned alternative routes for when work is expected to start and finish.

Delay Logs
Transparent reporting on why a project is delayed (e.g., weather, supply chain issues, or unforeseen site conditions). Logs should be kept and never deleted, as this is valuable data to have when City Staff or City Council are making (and justifying) future decisions. These logs would also allow for easier audits.

Providing this level of transparency should have been implemented long ago, but at least we can start now! We’ll be able to ensure that city departments and third-parties are better coordinated so that residents and local businesses have the information they need to plan their lives and operations effectively.

We live in 2026 and most of us, for better or worse, rely on third-party apps to navigate traffic woes of London’s project. Leaning into that reality, the following would let Londoners get incredibly accurate navigation info before they even leave their driveway, not just after they’ve already hit a detour.

Right now these non-city mapping apps rely on “crowdsourced” location data from our phones, where once enough people get stuck sitting in traffic and report construction, the map updates.

There’s a better way: I will push for the city to adopt automated data-sharing protocols with major navigation platforms.

By creating a “Source of Truth” digital feed, City Staff can automatically push official real-time (and scheduled) construction data, road closures, delays, and detour routes directly into Google Maps, Apple Maps, and Waze.