I totally agree with contributor Scott Stinson. Road congestion has become a “nightmare … one we have chosen.” It is time to reflect on solutions and implement them soon. Traffic congestion has become a crisis and is choking our roads. I have driven in and out of the city for 40 years, and would be happy to pay a small toll. The money should go toward improvements on transit. Rather than constantly complaining about gridlock, we should support a solution.
Carole Wilson, Etobicoke
I’m sure the opinion offered in this article is correct and tolls are the best way to deal with traffic congestion, but this solution comes with a cost. It divides us. The residents of downtown Toronto would, no doubt, be glad to be rid of the annoying influx of cars every day as those who have to travel to the city to work would probably think twice about getting a job downtown if there was a congestion toll. Voilà, no more congestion, but there is more division. The wealthy drive where they can and the poor suffer on the bus. Is that really what we want?
Paul Graham, Mississauga
This toll road situation is an obvious solution to congestion ills in the GTA that we have bantered about for years. The obvious role model for this is metropolitan London, England where, with its population of almost nine million, there are astronomical parking fees for anybody foolish enough to drive one centimetre over their boundaries. But fortunately for the Brits they have supplemented this limitation with a huge and efficient public transportation system including subways and trains.
Here in the GTHA, on the other hand, we have ignored practical urban plans. Instead, since the 1950s, planners have continued to pillage our flat prime agricultural lands for auto-centric suburbs. Add to that the short-sightedness of politicians backed by developer dollars and the fact that “toll” becomes a four-letter word death knell to their comfortable legislative chairs. The 1999 Highway 407 lease by the Tory government highlights this.
Doug Wighton, Mississauga
Pricing can work the same way making other things available only to the well-off works. Want to keep young people out of the housing market? Raise housing prices. Want to keep lower income people from buying cars? Raise car prices. Want to create food insecurity? Increase the cost of food. On the other hand, as a person who is moderately well off, I say please impose tolls. Sailing through Toronto on Highway 401 would be a dream, since tolls would keep the poor away from the city. Even better, impose a downtown congestion tax. Being able to cruise easily into Blue Jays or Raptors games would be so much more pleasant.
Tom Curran, Prince Edward County
Contributor Scott Stinson argues that tolls on roads are the only way to reduce congestion. In fact, tolling is just another trending initiative under another name that will foster growing economic and thus democratic inequality, destabilizing our sense of peace, order and good government. It penalizes the poor.
The Highway 407 toll road is a clear example of failure. The expensive toll road discourages use and leads to increased congestion in the GTA. Most drivers, unable to afford the tolls, avoid the 407, leaving it underutilized while other roads are jammed with traffic. This shows that tolling is an ineffective economic measure and a direct failure of democratic problem-solving.
In our democracy, transportation should be accessible to everyone. Just as private health care is opposed by the majority because it gives the wealthy more access to health services, the same argument applies to tolling transportation. Increasing public access is a better solution for diversity, equity and inclusion. Subsidizing all drivers, or designating truck drivers as the principal users of the 407, or buying it back for public use altogether, would make the most economic sense.
Tony D’Andrea, Toronto
It seems we have yet another dispute about toll roads in Toronto. I, for one, can only use Highway 407 sparingly but need to at times to be able to get somewhere on time. The TTC is just not an option in that case. The thought of yet more toll roads makes me feel that I should not go anywhere because I’m not rich. Let’s face it, Highway 407 is really expensive and if that is any indication of what more toll roads will cost, it will only add to the burden of the high cost of living. Unfortunately, this city is getting far too overcrowded and overpopulated and that is a huge problem. So, if the main purpose of toll roads is to discourage people from going anywhere, I guess that’s the answer. But please, if we do have to travel, make it affordable!
Jane White, Scarborough
