3mo ago

Ontario Premier called out for inaction on promise to remove Highway 407 tolls in Durham

durham.insauga.com Ontario Premier called out for inaction on promise to remove Highway 407 tolls in Durham: Oshawa MPP | INdurham

Promises made by Ontario Premier Doug Ford to buy Highway 407 and remove the tolls to help ease chronic gridlock have so far come up empty, with concerns raised that the pledge may only come true as an election goodie or tied into funding Ford’s other highway projects, including a tunnel under Highw...

Promises made by Ontario Premier Doug Ford to buy Highway 407 and remove the tolls to help ease chronic gridlock have so far come up empty,

Oshawa MPP Jennifer French, the NDP Critic for Infrastructure, Transportation & Highways, called out the government’s inaction on Highway 407 as the region faces some of the “worst traffic worldwide.”

“People deserve a government that gets them where they need to go, safely and efficiently,” said French. “While people are stuck in gridlock across the GTA, the 407 sits half-empty – and this premier isn’t doing anything about it.”

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“While people are stuck in gridlock across the GTA, the 407 sits half-empty"
Looks like tolls are actually beneficial to reducing congestion...
Tolls help with choosing other forms of transportation, and reduce gridlock. If individuals had to choose to pay a direct fee (as opposed to a indirect fee) people may choose to drive less and choose to support forms of public transits more. This would ease congestion and promote a need for better more frequent public transportation.
Cities should start implementing a "Congestion Charge" for their downtown cores. Every vehicle should have a transponder so once it enters a specific area in a city centre it gets pinged and tolled. Residents living inside these areas would probably be a exemption to promote more families choosing to live in cities as opposed to commuting in and out everyday.
- Looks like tolls are actually beneficial to reducing congestion…
  I'd say it has more to do with the fact that over half the 407 leads to empty space, and not directly into/through Toronto.
  But yes, I would also support tolls on all roads. In fact, bake it into car insurance, so those who drive more pay a higher "congestion charge".
  My car insurance rewards drivers for not driving! LOL
  If we make cars the least attractive option, then people will seek alternatives. Good luck trying to convince Ford to get on board... he's only about cars.
  
  This is good on the stick side of things, we need the other side solution too like higher frequency transit, transit priority lanes/signals, and free fares to help people switch as well. The amount of money we lose subsiding transit is easily made back by what we save on car infrastructure.
- Are you mad? That's horrible! First they'll do a congestion charge, then they'll put bike lanes back, then ban cars altogether and turn downtown into a walkable utopia!
  /s in case it's not obvious
- Yes. But the problem is lack of alternate public transportation. Travelling by public transport takes 2-3 times more than by car.
- Cities should start implementing a “Congestion Charge” for their downtown cores. Every vehicle should have a transponder so once it enters a specific area in a city centre it gets pinged and tolled.
  Except that that allows every vehicle to be tracked. Anywhere, not just in the city center, since a transmitter elsewhere would be able to ping transponders too. The privacy hit is way too high a cost in return for a teeny reduction in congestion (because most people will just continue driving, pay the charges, and then complain they can't afford other stuff. See also: price of gas. The stick approach to public transit does not work).
  
  If your car is less than 15 years old, it's location data (and way, way more information, like your sex life) is already being gathered and sold my the manufacturer. If your car is 15-35 years old, it's decreasingly probable. (And less data is collected).
  No active congestion pricing system uses transponder, they all use cameras. Not sure why Toronto would be different?

I agree with MPP French on a lot of things, but not this.
If the 407 sits half empty, that means people would rather pay with their time on the 401, than their money on the 407. That's their decision.
Making the 407 also free will just make both highways size up and probably induce even more traffic.
- Still, given that our dear Premier seems bound and determined to put more cars on the road, removing the tolls on the 407 seems like it would be cheaper and easier than tunneling under the 401.
  
  Yeah, this is really about finding something for Ford to latch on to that does the least possible harm.
- Making the 407 also free will just make both highways size up and probably induce even more traffic.
  FWIW, the 407 in Durham Region just goes through empty space. And it's a PITA to get to it if you live closer to the 401 (it adds like 20+ minutes at a minimum to your drive).
  Make it free to see what happens. I don't think it would change much of anything. Ford may get more votes out of it, but I don't think it would ease traffic all that much, just because of how far it is from the city centre.

Oh my goood. Slow news day? Highway tolls are good, Canada can't afford to maintain all its roads as is. It might not be a popular opinion but it is an evidence-based one.
- Highway tolls are good, Canada can’t afford to maintain all its roads as is.
  Tolls that feed back into the province are great, but the 407 is a privately owned company, and they keep all (most) of the revenue from those tolls. They are also responsible for maintaining those roads.
  We got so screwed by selling the 407.
  Road maintenance is always at a massive detriment for any country, and you can never recuperate those costs, especially not when you're encouraging car use over other forms of transportation (like what Ford is doing).
  This is why many of us are trying desperately to convince our government (and fellow citizens) to reduce car dependency.
  
  This is exactly what I was thinking. Tolls are good .. if that same toll money is fed back into the highway system to build better and more roads for everyone. Toll roads that just make profit for a private corporation without really benefiting the people who actually use the road is a system that doesn't work.
- This isn't so much about the tolls as it is Drug Fraud breaking yet another election promise.
  As for the nation not spending enough on road/bridge infrastructure, if the feds had the balls to do the right thing (ie: tax the rich at pre-1970's levels) we wouldn't be in such rough shape.
  
  It makes sense when you realize Ford won't do anything that returns private money to the public, but will do everything and anything that enriches the private sector.
  Removing tolls from the 407 would be a public benefit, so he won't do it. You'd be more likely to see him sell the east-of-Pickering chunk of 407 for a "tax break" and claim it's a win.
- Most of Ontario's roadway infrastructure is in a decline and has been for a while now. Think potholes, crumbling sidewalks, crumbling bridges, lack of roadway reworks for better traffic calming and pedestrian safety to reach "vision zero".
  Its amazing how much car centric infrastructure costs to build and maintain. Its also heavily subsidised, because if you had to pay the "actual cost" to use a roadway it would be unaffordable. Not to mention the indirect costs, such as environmental costs and public heath and wellbeing.
  There is a visible difference in how well maintained the tolled 407 is compared to other 400 series highways in terms of proper on/off ramps, concrete roadways, quick response times to debris clearing.
  It is a shame the remaining "profits" (after maintainace costs) do not go into other infrastructure projects in Ontario, like schools, hospitals, and parks, but instead a private purse.

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