Toronto's pothole problem is only getting worse

Toronto - and probably most of Ontario, not to mention Canada as a whole - has a pothole problem (and a recent visit to New York brought home to me that this problem is not limited by the Canadian border). This is no secret, and no surprise given our winters, particularly the freeze-thaw-freeze cycle of recent winters. But every spring it is a constant source of annoyance, rage and frustration. And it's getting worse.
Even anecdotally, I can see that this is clearly the case. But now a report by Applied Research Associates for the Transport Association of Canada makes it official. The report makes it clear that, yes, Canadian engineers do know how to build and repair roads well and durably, but that is not what happens in practice. The reason? You guessed it: money.
Municipalities and provinces (and, arguably, the taxpayers that vote for them) are just not willing to spend the money required to do a good job that will last. The result is the usual spring obstacle course that we have to contend with each year, and the estimated $1.4 billion's worth of repairs to Canadian vehicles each year caused by pothole-related damage.  Potholes are usually filled at some point (although not always these days), but usually this amounts to a guy with a bucket of tar, which you just know is going to disintegrate by, or often well before, next winter.
The recommended fix - hot-mix asphalt and sprays - costs more money, and our cash-strapped, short-term-thinking municipalities are just not willing to do the right thing when they can get away with skimping and corner-cutting, even if, long-term, that approach will actually cost the tax-payer more.
Some cities are apparently making some progress on road repairs, notably Montreal (long the butt of running jokes about car-eating potholes and poor road quality), Winnipeg, Regina and Edmonton. But not, it seems, Toronto. The days of Toronto being "New York run by the Swiss" are, sadly, long gone.