Congestion charges, GPS systems also being considered
David Fleischer

When Metrolinx unveiled a plan to spend $50 billion on new transit projects, there was one question left unanswered: where about $40 million of that will come from.

While no one wants to say it quite yet, there seems little question that at least part of the answer is that we will face road tolls sooner or later.

The models we’ve become used to — featuring large toll plazas or electronic collection, like on Hwy. 407 — are just a small slice of what exists, and experts from around the world came here last week to talk about what the future holds.

When you put your transit fare in the box, you know what you’re paying but you shouldn’t think your gas bill gives you a sense of how much that car is actually costing.

“If you don’t charge people the proper price for the use of roads, you get overuse,” Trent University economist Harry Kitchen said.

Mr. Kitchen spoke as part of Transportation Futures, a one-day conference hosted by the Residential and Civil Construction Alliance of Canada, and Healthy Transport Consulting. He pointed out that overuse leads to over-investment and an unsustainable system.

More than 100 registrants from the construction industry, non-governmental organizations and municipal and provincial governments attended the conference outlining the wide variety of “road pricing” options now available.

James Whitty, of Oregon’s Department of Transportation, described his state’s pilot project which uses GPS technology to bill drivers based on their mileage rather than employing an increasingly outdated gas tax.

“All the motorist does is pay something different,” Mr. Whitty said.

The malleable system allows for billing everything from higher rates at rush hour to discounts for high-efficency vehicles.

“You can be very creative in creating rate structures,” he said.

Nicolas Mery spoke of France’s extensive efforts working with private companies to create toll roads. Nearly 80 per cent of France’s 11,000 km of highway are tolled. Though they are owned by the state, they are designed, built and maintained by private companies.

Unlike what happened here, where the 407 was sold to a private company with virtual free reign, the French government shares project risk with the contractor and prices are negotiated as part of the deal. Tolls are set in relation to the cost of infrastructure and can be adjusted in sections to improve services — but not to further line the owner’s pockets.

Their experimentation showed that jacking up evening rates on Paris’s equivalent of Hwy. 400, reduced traffic by encouraging more people to return from “cottage country” earlier on Sunday.

Consultant Reg Evans described one of the best known toll systems of recent years, the congestion charge in the central area of London.

Before its introduction in 2003, traffic in London’s core was averaging 15 km/h even though 90 per cent of those there arrived by transit. Car traffic dropped by one third almost immediately and similar, but less drastic, drops were seen when the zone expanded in 2007.

When Metrolinx chairperson Rob MacIsaac unveiled their plan in September, he acknowledged the lack of long term funding.

“We are not recommending large, new revenue producing measures. We have decided that people deserve to see results before we start talking about new revenue tools,” Mr. MacIsaac  he said.

Metrolinx expects to release a report in 2013, outlining options for paying for their plan.

Would you be willing to pay a toll in order to create an improved transit system? E-mail your responses to tmcfadden@yrmg.com