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Toronto City Summit Alliance: GTA needs road tolls and taxes now

I think this means John Tory can't run for politics period. Who wants to vote for a conservative urban issues guy who is a taxing environmentalist that supports religious segregation in schools?
 
Why should highway tolls fund transit? Justifying them that way is setting yourself up for political failure, I think. To me it makes a hell of a lot more sense to have gas taxes pay for the environmental and public health costs of gasoline use (and actually be used to combat those), highway user fees to pay for maintenance, and congestion charges to meter demand when necessary. The congestion charges should absolutely fund transit, but their purpose would be primarily to make sure that highways are actually transportation instead of parking lots - and secondarily to fund transit alternatives.

I just recently made that argument for congestion charges in my local paper.
 
mpd618 said:
Why should highway tolls fund transit?
Click to expand...
Simple. Tolling highways will reduce the usage, and make them usable again. As someone who frequently drives on the Gardiner, DVP, and 400-series highways in Toronto I very much support aggressive tolling; I'm tired of being stuck in traffic. It's a waste of my time.

However by doing that, it will increase transit traffic. Therefore more Ministry of Transportation funding needs to be allocated to transit.

Presenting tolling as being done simply to fund transit might not be the best approach. Selling it as making the existing roads usable is far better strategy.
 
It should be sold as a way of reducing congestion by encouraging shorter commutes, carpooling and using transit. Dump it in general revenues, even.
 
afransen said:
It should be sold as a way of reducing congestion by encouraging shorter commutes, carpooling and using transit.
Click to expand...
I'd imagine that many people would see this as an infringement on their rights to choose their commute lengths and single-car use.

Sell it as a way for those that choose to drive, to get their. To get business moving. And to improve transit, all in one swoop. No point in committing political hari-kiri, if there are other options.
 
Presenting tolling as being done simply to fund transit might not be the best approach. Selling it as making the existing roads usable is far better strategy.
Click to expand...

So I see you have identified two extremes. Something in-between them is perhaps better.
 
Haven't gone through it in depth yet, but this stood out:

While the National Policy Framework for Strategic Gateways and Trade Corridors11 has
provided a framework for federal spending for transportation (primarily highways) in and through
the GTHA, Canada – alone among OECD countries – continues to lack a national transit
strategy focussing on public transportation in our urban areas, where 80% of Canadians live
and most of our wealth is created. The lack of such a strategy, and the defined, more
predictable long-term funding plus national policy support that it would provide, puts Canada at
a distinct disadvantage relative to other OECD countries – and rapidly-growing developing
countries – regarding the extent and quality of our transit systems and the competitiveness of
our urban areas in terms of economic, environmental and quality of living measures.
Click to expand...

I wish the media would seize on this before the 'road tolls' headline. Road Tolls are an important tool available for transit funding, but the region's real challenge is that residents continue to see a large portion of their tax dollar go toward a Federal Government that doesn't give a shit.
 
People Drive because we have an inadequate Public transit.. More street cars are not the answer, bike lanes are not the answer... the answer are subways... and lots of them.

Congestion pricing will be an EXCELLENT source of revenue IF it is earmarked into a DEDICATED Public Transit FUND, and not the general mismanaged slush fund we call our City Budget.
 
GraphicMatt said:
Haven't gone through it in depth yet, but this stood out:



I wish the media would seize on this before the 'road tolls' headline. Road Tolls are an important tool available for transit funding, but the region's real challenge is that residents continue to see a large portion of their tax dollar go toward a Federal Government that doesn't give a shit.
Click to expand...

It's more expensive to build roads into Muskoka. That's where the money goes...
Toronto pays more than they receive... this is the simple concept of income equalization. Higher income earners receive the same services as Lower INcomer earners, but they pay more taxes.

It should be a simple concept the far left should embrace.
 
I've got nothing against equalization. I take issue with a federal government that refuses to make necessary investments into GTHA transportation infrastructure. If they've decided that Canada is such a unique snowflake on the world stage that the federal government has no place in transit funding for cities then at least give us some of our tax dollars back.
 
GraphicMatt said:
Haven't gone through it in depth yet, but this stood out:

I wish the media would seize on this before the 'road tolls' headline. Road Tolls are an important tool available for transit funding, but the region's real challenge is that residents continue to see a large portion of their tax dollar go toward a Federal Government that doesn't give a shit.
Click to expand...

Same thing applies to highways.... short-term programs, case-by-case grants, etc.. constitutionally, it's not their problem... but as with transit our highway funding and (lack of) national highway policy is basically unique among OECD countries and even among other federal states. We have some of the lowest federal involvement in highway funding per capita or per KM out there and I'm sure the same thing applies to transit.
 
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