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Article
Planner mulls tax on drivers
Congestion fees could help fund public transit, says transportation authority head
January 27, 2007
Jim Byers
CITY HALL BUREAU CHIEF
The head of the Greater Toronto Transportation Authority isn't ruling out a congestion tax to help fund public transit.
It could form one part of the plan Rob MacIsaac hopes to unveil by year's end as his group's grand vision for transportation in the GTA.
"I think there are opportunities for new things that haven't been thought of before, but I think 90 per cent of what we need has already been thought of and it's out there and we just need to ... assemble it."
Among the other ideas discussed have been road tolls and parking lot surcharges.
Congestion fees have been hugely controversial in London, where drivers are charged about $20 once they cross into a certain zone in the city. Supporters say it has worked to cut traffic and boost transit.
MacIsaac said he's spoken with Mayor David Miller and others about congestion taxes and a host of other ideas. But he doesn't want to spend years analyzing potential solutions to the GTA's transportation mess. There's just no time.
Speaking at a three-hour transportation summit in Toronto yesterday, MacIsaac said the region that stretches from Hamilton to Durham is expected to add another 3 million residents in the next 25 years and creative solutions are needed. "Within a year we'll have a plan that recommends some funding mechanisms," MacIsaac told reporters after his speech. "It may or may not include those kinds of measures."
One certainty is that improvements will cost billions, he said. "Many billions, probably. But it's not as expensive as not making the investment."
MacIsaac warned summit attendees that adding 3 million residents between now and 2031 could mean 1.5 million more cars in an area already choked with gridlock.
"That could mean a 45 per cent increase in average commute times. Our economy would be shackled. We'd have reduced productivity. Our greenhouse gas emissions would increase. If we continue with business as usual it would lead to perhaps a 42 per cent increase in auto emissions.
"We simply can't have that," he said. "It's unacceptable."
MacIsaac said the GTTA was created to implement the province's planning program, which is aimed at curbing urban sprawl and protecting the southern Ontario greenbelt. Those goals can only be accomplished with a first-class transportation system, he said.
"The GTTA is not about forcing people out of their cars," he said. "It's about making transit competitive with the automobile. Because if it's convenient enough and comfortable enough and fast enough, people will choose it over cars."
MacIsaac said the GTA can either continue as it's going or take bold action and compete with the best cities in the world.
"I think it's clear which way we have to go, but we have an awful lot of catching up to do. Because, pure and simple, we've underfunded transportation infrastructure in the GTTA region for decades."
Infrastructure Ontario President and CEO David Livingston said the private sector can help.
"There are a huge number of players interested in participating in the kinds of public infrastructure plans we have," he said. "The market is awash in capital. We have lots of contractors that want to participate.
"We can harness that to our advantage because the essence of getting good prices is to create as much competition as possible," Livingston said.
Toronto Transit Commission Chair Adam Giambrone said he'd love to see new subway lines built but that light-rail transit lines like the Scarborough and Spadina LRTs can move a lot of people for far less money. Miller has said he wants to see new transit lines all over the city, including Eglinton Ave. in the west end, Kingston Rd., Don Mills Rd. and a line that would connect north Etobicoke and north Scarborough to the subway.
One speaker at the summit said he heard a lot about transit but not much about needed roads. Transportation officials said there will be new roads built in the GTA and Hamilton area, but that transit plans are for the future.
"Our priority in the city is public transit," Giambrone said. "Our official plan ... (has) no plans for ... any road construction outside of local roads, in the next 30 years."
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Article
Consider downtown tolls, transit czar says
Chair of transportation authority, mayor disagree on congestion charge
JEFF GRAY
A London-style congestion charge, which would see drivers headed downtown pay tolls, is one of the ideas on the table for greater Toronto, the province's new regional transportation czar says.
Rob MacIsaac, the chairman of the newly created Greater Toronto Transportation Authority, said yesterday that a congestion charge is among the ideas that will be considered as his group drafts a new transportation plan for the region over the next year.
Mr. MacIsaac is the most senior public figure in Ontario to suggest publicly that such charges on drivers are an option.
"London has a congestion pricing system that is reporting great success," he told an audience at a downtown hotel. "You want to bring your car downtown, you pay for the privilege. Will we be discussing that? Absolutely. We'd be foolish not to look at it."
Mr. MacIsaac, the former mayor of Burlington, made the remarks at an event sponsored by former Toronto mayor David Crombie's Canadian Urban Institute, saying he is determined to consider unorthodox solutions to the GTA's traffic problems, set to worsen as millions more move here over the coming decades.
Mayor David Miller, who will sit on the GTTA board, was quick to dampen any talk about a congestion charge.
"The decision whether to have those kinds of charges inside Toronto would be the City of Toronto's alone," Mr. Miller said. "And that's not the approach we're taking."
But the mayor said he supports an open-minded approach, and said the GTTA could at least study the feasibility of region-wide road pricing schemes, such implementing tolls on the Queen Elizabeth Way or 400-series highways, for example. But a London-style fee for drivers is not on the agenda, he said.
"You just can't compare London to Toronto. Toronto's a new city built on a grid system. London's an ancient city," Mr. Miller said.
After his speech, Mr. MacIsaac told reporters that all ideas, from cities around the world, should be considered. "My view is we need to look at everything."
He said the gridlock-fighting plan that he hopes his board, made up of municipal appointees from the GTA, will deliver to the provincial government will recommend "funding mechanisms" but could also include other measures, such as congestion charges.
Ontario's Minister of Transportation, Donna Cansfield, introduced Mr. MacIsaac at yesterday's event. Afterward, she told reporters he was right to have an open mind.
"He should be looking at everything," Ms. Cansfield said. "It will be the board's responsibility to look at all the ideas that come forward."
In 2003, London Mayor Ken Livingstone brought in an £8 ($18) "congestion charge" for motorists entering the centre of the British capital in an effort to clear up paralyzing traffic jams.
The government credits the move with reducing congestion by 30 per cent, and the revenue collected is being put into public transit, funding hundreds of new buses. Cities across Europe are considering similar measures.
In his speech, Mr. MacIsaac warned that failing to deal with traffic problems could harm economic growth in the region, and that the solutions could cost "many billions."
Other ideas on the table, he said, include aggressive subway expansion. As an example, he pointed to Madrid, which has added more kilometres of subway in the past 10 years than the total of Toronto entire existing system. Mr. MacIsaac said later that he supports Toronto's plans to expand its light-rail network.
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Planner mulls tax on drivers
Congestion fees could help fund public transit, says transportation authority head
January 27, 2007
Jim Byers
CITY HALL BUREAU CHIEF
The head of the Greater Toronto Transportation Authority isn't ruling out a congestion tax to help fund public transit.
It could form one part of the plan Rob MacIsaac hopes to unveil by year's end as his group's grand vision for transportation in the GTA.
"I think there are opportunities for new things that haven't been thought of before, but I think 90 per cent of what we need has already been thought of and it's out there and we just need to ... assemble it."
Among the other ideas discussed have been road tolls and parking lot surcharges.
Congestion fees have been hugely controversial in London, where drivers are charged about $20 once they cross into a certain zone in the city. Supporters say it has worked to cut traffic and boost transit.
MacIsaac said he's spoken with Mayor David Miller and others about congestion taxes and a host of other ideas. But he doesn't want to spend years analyzing potential solutions to the GTA's transportation mess. There's just no time.
Speaking at a three-hour transportation summit in Toronto yesterday, MacIsaac said the region that stretches from Hamilton to Durham is expected to add another 3 million residents in the next 25 years and creative solutions are needed. "Within a year we'll have a plan that recommends some funding mechanisms," MacIsaac told reporters after his speech. "It may or may not include those kinds of measures."
One certainty is that improvements will cost billions, he said. "Many billions, probably. But it's not as expensive as not making the investment."
MacIsaac warned summit attendees that adding 3 million residents between now and 2031 could mean 1.5 million more cars in an area already choked with gridlock.
"That could mean a 45 per cent increase in average commute times. Our economy would be shackled. We'd have reduced productivity. Our greenhouse gas emissions would increase. If we continue with business as usual it would lead to perhaps a 42 per cent increase in auto emissions.
"We simply can't have that," he said. "It's unacceptable."
MacIsaac said the GTTA was created to implement the province's planning program, which is aimed at curbing urban sprawl and protecting the southern Ontario greenbelt. Those goals can only be accomplished with a first-class transportation system, he said.
"The GTTA is not about forcing people out of their cars," he said. "It's about making transit competitive with the automobile. Because if it's convenient enough and comfortable enough and fast enough, people will choose it over cars."
MacIsaac said the GTA can either continue as it's going or take bold action and compete with the best cities in the world.
"I think it's clear which way we have to go, but we have an awful lot of catching up to do. Because, pure and simple, we've underfunded transportation infrastructure in the GTTA region for decades."
Infrastructure Ontario President and CEO David Livingston said the private sector can help.
"There are a huge number of players interested in participating in the kinds of public infrastructure plans we have," he said. "The market is awash in capital. We have lots of contractors that want to participate.
"We can harness that to our advantage because the essence of getting good prices is to create as much competition as possible," Livingston said.
Toronto Transit Commission Chair Adam Giambrone said he'd love to see new subway lines built but that light-rail transit lines like the Scarborough and Spadina LRTs can move a lot of people for far less money. Miller has said he wants to see new transit lines all over the city, including Eglinton Ave. in the west end, Kingston Rd., Don Mills Rd. and a line that would connect north Etobicoke and north Scarborough to the subway.
One speaker at the summit said he heard a lot about transit but not much about needed roads. Transportation officials said there will be new roads built in the GTA and Hamilton area, but that transit plans are for the future.
"Our priority in the city is public transit," Giambrone said. "Our official plan ... (has) no plans for ... any road construction outside of local roads, in the next 30 years."
-----------------------------------------------------------
Article
Consider downtown tolls, transit czar says
Chair of transportation authority, mayor disagree on congestion charge
JEFF GRAY
A London-style congestion charge, which would see drivers headed downtown pay tolls, is one of the ideas on the table for greater Toronto, the province's new regional transportation czar says.
Rob MacIsaac, the chairman of the newly created Greater Toronto Transportation Authority, said yesterday that a congestion charge is among the ideas that will be considered as his group drafts a new transportation plan for the region over the next year.
Mr. MacIsaac is the most senior public figure in Ontario to suggest publicly that such charges on drivers are an option.
"London has a congestion pricing system that is reporting great success," he told an audience at a downtown hotel. "You want to bring your car downtown, you pay for the privilege. Will we be discussing that? Absolutely. We'd be foolish not to look at it."
Mr. MacIsaac, the former mayor of Burlington, made the remarks at an event sponsored by former Toronto mayor David Crombie's Canadian Urban Institute, saying he is determined to consider unorthodox solutions to the GTA's traffic problems, set to worsen as millions more move here over the coming decades.
Mayor David Miller, who will sit on the GTTA board, was quick to dampen any talk about a congestion charge.
"The decision whether to have those kinds of charges inside Toronto would be the City of Toronto's alone," Mr. Miller said. "And that's not the approach we're taking."
But the mayor said he supports an open-minded approach, and said the GTTA could at least study the feasibility of region-wide road pricing schemes, such implementing tolls on the Queen Elizabeth Way or 400-series highways, for example. But a London-style fee for drivers is not on the agenda, he said.
"You just can't compare London to Toronto. Toronto's a new city built on a grid system. London's an ancient city," Mr. Miller said.
After his speech, Mr. MacIsaac told reporters that all ideas, from cities around the world, should be considered. "My view is we need to look at everything."
He said the gridlock-fighting plan that he hopes his board, made up of municipal appointees from the GTA, will deliver to the provincial government will recommend "funding mechanisms" but could also include other measures, such as congestion charges.
Ontario's Minister of Transportation, Donna Cansfield, introduced Mr. MacIsaac at yesterday's event. Afterward, she told reporters he was right to have an open mind.
"He should be looking at everything," Ms. Cansfield said. "It will be the board's responsibility to look at all the ideas that come forward."
In 2003, London Mayor Ken Livingstone brought in an £8 ($18) "congestion charge" for motorists entering the centre of the British capital in an effort to clear up paralyzing traffic jams.
The government credits the move with reducing congestion by 30 per cent, and the revenue collected is being put into public transit, funding hundreds of new buses. Cities across Europe are considering similar measures.
In his speech, Mr. MacIsaac warned that failing to deal with traffic problems could harm economic growth in the region, and that the solutions could cost "many billions."
Other ideas on the table, he said, include aggressive subway expansion. As an example, he pointed to Madrid, which has added more kilometres of subway in the past 10 years than the total of Toronto entire existing system. Mr. MacIsaac said later that he supports Toronto's plans to expand its light-rail network.
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*agrees*