King of Kensington
Senior Member
Thoughts? It would have to be pretty hefty. But I think it can be done in the area roughly around Bathurst, Don Valley, Davenport/Dupont.
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Should Toronto bring in a London-style congestion charge for the downtown area?
- Thread starter King of Kensington
- Start date
W. K. Lis
Superstar
The 905 would be totally against this, of course. They also want the parking to be free. And lower auto insurance. No license plate fees or driving license fees.
King of Kensington
Senior Member
Some interesting stats here with regard to commuting into downtown. 67% of downtown commuters come in via TTC or GO Transit already.
https://www.thestar.com/news/prints...e-drive-on-the-east-gardiner-expressway-.html
I think there's a good case for a hefty congestion charge in this area. There is no argument for "needing" a car here.
https://www.thestar.com/news/prints...e-drive-on-the-east-gardiner-expressway-.html
I think there's a good case for a hefty congestion charge in this area. There is no argument for "needing" a car here.
pman
Senior Member
I agree with a congestion charge, and would also like to see a levy on all commercial parking spaces high enough to change behaviour and generate meaningful transit funding.
Admiral Beez
Superstar
One thing we forget about the London congestion charge was that it was only a temporary reprieve. London's roads are now just as crowded as they were before the charge. What has changed is far more people are using transit, many of whom would have presumably used their cars and made London's congestion even worse. So, unless you control the increase in the number of people moving about and in/out of the city, any congestion charge will only temporarily reduce congestion. Unless you restrict population movement, this is impossible.
One major benefit to London presumably is financial, since the same number of cars are using London's streets as before the charge, but they're all paying the tolls now, and helping to pay for transit for everyone else. I imagine there's a good percentage of the drivers that wish the congestion charge was doubled or more so that more people are encouraged to get off the road and clear the space for those that can afford it. I expense all my auto costs to my employer, so that would be me
One major benefit to London presumably is financial, since the same number of cars are using London's streets as before the charge, but they're all paying the tolls now, and helping to pay for transit for everyone else. I imagine there's a good percentage of the drivers that wish the congestion charge was doubled or more so that more people are encouraged to get off the road and clear the space for those that can afford it. I expense all my auto costs to my employer, so that would be me
UserNameToronto
Active Member
Skeezix
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While I am generally in favour of road pricing, I wonder whether a "downtown" congestion charge makes sense, when in my experience the intersection of, say, Jarvis and Richmond at 8 a.m. is usually not nearly as bad as at Leslie and Hwy 7 at the same time. I do understand that people headed downtown have more transit alternatives than most people headed elsewhere, but most commuters to downtown do avail themselves of those options, many of those options are literally bursting at the seams, and a downtown congestion charge will do nothing to help address the fact that much of the rest of the GTA is choking on congestion during peak periods.
The technology exists to allow us to deal with this more holistically, perhaps with road pricing across the entire GTA. The political will, however, is almost certainly absent.
The technology exists to allow us to deal with this more holistically, perhaps with road pricing across the entire GTA. The political will, however, is almost certainly absent.
Admiral Beez
Superstar
ticky
Active Member
No, not right now. The subway doesn't have enough capacity to handle thousands more people using it if they ditch their cars if a congestion charge came in.
W. K. Lis
Superstar
Maybe they should charge a congestion charge on Sheppard Avenue East to get people to use the Line 4 Sheppard line.
steveintoronto
Superstar
I don't have the figures handy, suffice to state that (at least during the fair weather) more cyclists commute downtown than drivers come from the east or north on the expressways. (City stats. I'll dig and reference if challenged)
steveintoronto
Superstar
Not only is the London Congestion Charge presently extant, Oxford Street (Yonge Street equiv) is seeing vehicular traffic banned too, and that might include the buses even due to the diesel pollution.
The number of buses on Oxford Street could be cut by half - Time Out
Oxford Street to be pedestrianised by 2020 - BBC News - BBC.com
https://tfl.gov.uk/modes/driving/congestion-charge
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Palma
Senior Member
Would this be a way around the tolls the province has stopped? The province could do nothing about this and would get the cars coming in to the City from the 905. It would of course also hit the 416 drivers but I suspect there are less of them.
steveintoronto
Superstar
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christiesplits
Senior Member
$110m for a congestion charge seems smaller that I would have predicted.
Also, consider the number of 905 commuters who don't commute downtown. Many commute to office parks in Mississauga or Brampton. The 'car commute to downtown Toronto' constituency is quiet small.
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