How much do you pay when you buy a car, including HST, pdi, freight? How much do you pay for insurance, licensing, annual sticker? How much do you pay per litre of gas in taxes? How much of your income and land tax is redirected to transportation infrastructure funding? Tolling the 407 and additional highways that are advertised as toll highways from the get-go, prior to construction is one thing. Being tolled for existing highways for which the construction costs are already paid and the maintenance is paid for through the multiple taxes I already pay? I don't think so. Again, if you want to talk about replacing one tax (gas, for example) with another (tolls), that's a conversation. My only caveat is that tolling certain segments of highway to pay for an enhancement (and nothing more), might be justified in certain circumstances, such as burying the Gardiner.
Here nor there. As EVs proliferate the gas tax won't suffice and a general fee for all road use is on the way. It will likely be mileage based at point of origin, your vehicle. The transportation authority can make it as "smart" as they want with different charges for peak periods on specific roads/highways because they'll know exactly where you are at all times. I just hope the information doesn't get shared with the police the way the 407 and parking authorities work with MTO. You can't renew your license without paying off unpaid 407 tolls and parking tickets. Lucky us. I wonder if police will be able to access that tracking information. Creepy. The argument will be that it helps find missing persons during Amber Alerts of course, but it will get abused I'm sure.