DVP and Gardiner are CITY roadways and are paid for solely through City of Toronto's budget. All those taxes paid by 905ers (or 416ers) contribute pay for provincial roadways.
Toll lanes coming to QEW
- Thread starter AK-47
- Start date
The tolls on the 407 aren't the problem (for me). The problem with the 407 was selling it to a foreign for profit company instead of the tolls supporting governmental programs.
The (official) point of an HOV lane is not an autobahn pass but rather a lane that moves closer to the limit during rush hour than the other lanes.
Your pic is pretty accurate - except the fat man tied to the tax cross is starting to starve and the pig keeps getting bigger and bigger.It's a provincial program - the Feds have their own means of soaking up your hard earned money. For those who have experienced tolls in the US - you can go from buffalo to NYC ( ~ 6 hours) for less cost than a trip across the city on the 407. Anytime a politician suggests a toll - take him out and shoot him.
It's a narrow minded stupid idea whose feasibility was tested and failed miserably with the games last summer. Traffic chaos ensued with more accidents, more tickets and obviously with a congested roadway now burdened with an additional traffic barrier - horrendous traffic delays. It's a f*cking stupid idea and that has only one purpose - soak more money from the taxpayer. We are paying 20% more in gas than the US (and we are the oil producer) because the money was suppose to pay for the maintenance of our highways. That represents billions of dollars. Your driver license was suppose to pay for the roads as with the escalating costs of your licence plates. This is in addition over the last few years of a 70% increase in commercial plate fees that unless there is a new effort to line the roads with gold foil - the government is simply feeding a financial black hole which needs more and more money until an entire economic collapse ensues that puts Greece's efforts to shame.
Please don't give me the Liberal/ Conservative tripe, I think of it like red and blue underwear - the colour is different but there is still an asshole underneath. Screw the Lexus lane jargon from the conservative MP's, they gave away a core highway crucial to the development of expanding Toronto to a foreign company with the promise we will never try to get our head out of the noose by building an alternative route. By the way, the lexus owners cruising the toll roads will get outright compensated or tax deductions so that you - the taxpayer are even paying for their ability to thumb their nose at you as they travel their exclusive lane.
Does anyone really think that once they have the mechanism in place for billing single drivers, that they won't throw the switch and hit everyone with this additional tax ????
Public sector costs crippling Ontario
Private sector workers simply cannot afford to maintain public sector workers in the style to which public sector workers have become accustomed.
http://www.torontosun.com/2015/03/28/public-sector-costs-crippling-ontario
Clueless - you realize that a good chunk of the ontario provincial liberals have gone to ottawa to work for Trudeau II?
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news...ffers-to-ottawa-set-to-begin/article27181936/
There are definitely times when the HOV lane moves faster than the majority of traffic; until that lane ends or you have to exit the HOV lane to exit into regular lanes. Anyone know why HOV lanes are on the left side of the highway instead of the right side where slower moving traffic like buses or multiple occupant vehicles would likely gravitate to?
And that private company has a 99-year lease on the highway, can deny your license plate renewal and are basically bullet proof from any legal action by the province. Did Jar Jar Binks negotiate that deal for the province?
I have no problem with that . Zoom away . How nice of you to throw that in everyone's face . You can afford to pay the extra tolls . Really . There're many people who work very hard every day but are not able to afford those tolls and will not be able to use those lanes . How nice of you to remind them that your so well off .
Can't wait to see you zoom by and then slam on your brakes because a vehicle in front of you is doing the speed limit holding up every behind them . May I remind you that those lanes have the same speed limit as the other lanes . Apparently many drivers forget that and think that they can go as fast as they want to .
Eventually the province will sell more permits and those lanes will be clogged up like other ones . You think !!!!
The next time you go to the emergency hospital for a problem , guess what Sunshine , it doesn't matter how much money you have . You're still going to wait just like the other people . Your money is not going to help you there .
Just do the analysis yourself and you will see it is cheaper to use tolls then be stuck in traffic for the extra 20-30 mins. Factor in the price of gas, wear and tear, your time, value of your time, opportunity lost by being stuck in traffic, your stress levels, etc...it pays to use the tolls. Even if I save 5 mins for me it is still worth it because it is that much longer I can hold my kids. It will encourage carpooling and taking alternate forms of transport even multimodal. All you see is yourself, now now now...just think about it and you will realize tolls make sense. We are out of space, heavily congested and this is the next logical approach. WTG to the province on this huge improvement, can't wait to spend the extra time with my family and see my kids smiles that much earlier, so if that means for YOU eating our lights so be it, it is YOU who are doing something wrong. Maybe instead of buying those cigarets, or coffees or muffins save it up, do the smart thing and pay for tolls or maybe find a colleague to carpool to work...hey now that's an idea.I have no problem with that . Zoom away . How nice of you to throw that in everyone's face . You can afford to pay the extra tolls . Really . There're many people who work very hard every day but are not able to afford those tolls and will not be able to use those lanes . How nice of you to remind them that your so well off .
Can't wait to see you zoom by and then slam on your brakes because a vehicle in front of you is doing the speed limit holding up every behind them . May I remind you that those lanes have the same speed limit as the other lanes . Apparently many drivers forget that and think that they can go as fast as they want to .
Eventually the province will sell more permits and those lanes will be clogged up like other ones . You think !!!!
The next time you go to the emergency hospital for a problem , guess what Sunshine , it doesn't matter how much money you have . You're still going to wait just like the other people . Your money is not going to help you there .
BTW smarties, when those lanes get clogged, they will start tolling other lanes...what else did you think was going to happen?
Actually I rarely travel on your congested highways . If I do it's only twice a year and it's in the middle of the night passing thru . I'm not of you suckers that have to go on the highway every day . I have no kids to hold nor do I have to worry about an extra 5 mins. Perhaps you should save your money and buy a home closer to your job so you wouldn't have to commute . We are out of space , then let all vehicles use all lanes to clear up the congestion . Daaaa You wish to pay tolls on a highway that your taxes have already paid for . Go for it . You should save that money to buy a home closer to your job .
I don't give a rats ass about traffic congestion . I don't use the highways that much . If I do it's no big deal since I can spare an extra 5mins. and I don't have brats to hold . You want to spend more time with your kids , you just mentioned how much you can't stand them in the car with you . Get a job closer to where you live and you can see the smiles on your kids a lot sooner .
I chuckle when the news shows the traffic backed up for miles . Next time flash your lights so I know it's you stuck in traffic when I'm watching the news from my easy chair .
Only fools pay twice for something that they already have paid for . What does that make you ??????
By the way the HOV lanes were put in place for car polling . To save the environment and have less pollution . Since when does having HOT lanes do that? It's a money scam but that's OK with you because you can see the smiles of your kids sooner even though the smiles of your kids mean nothing to you when they are in the car with you.
Dude you know these are messed up comments. I will give the the benefit of the doubt and assume you typed it while traveling at night as mentioned above thus explains why it makes no sense and fits in to your thinking pattern. How are my kids in the car when I coming home from work? Why would anyone use the HOT when there is no congestion like at nigh or off peakt? HOTs are there to improve congestion when the majority of the people take the highways such as during something called rush hour. Since there are way too many cars vs. what a highways capacity can handle it becomes a stop and go and problem at various locations. Now since capacity is being exceed, economy and people are being affected the next logical approach is HOTs. Given our population increase, the fact that this will just keep getting worse, the fact that we can't widen the highways, the only logical approach is HOT until eventually they toll the whole highway and then introduce toll variability based on congestion patterns throughout the day. Its is not about being taxed again. It's about improving congestion through smart means. Hopefully these will improve the transportation systems when some people realize they can car pool or maybe take the train or TTC etc. and get them out of our way so I can get home quicker through saving not paying
Why not pay to get life-saving surgery before your less wealthy peers? Or some other medical operation? Why not pay to have prime access to police or fire services? Or advantageous access to other government services?
Does no one else see what's fundamentally wrong with all this in a democracy?
Sure. And why not add in a premium to guarantee better electricity and water service as well.
The difference is a publicly owned vs privately owned property and/or service.
And that is a very large slippery slope. If they are going to toll the roads then it should be revenue neutral. Lower the taxes somewhere else.
This is highly irrational thinking. OK so what happens in 5 years, 10 years when we can't get anywhere because we're spending a considerable about of time in traffic. What is your threshold then, or do you not care and only care about superficial on the surface costs and can't see how much money you are loosing idling in traffic and how much it hurts business and economy. This reminds me of the scenarios when gas stations have a special and you see crazy line ups to fill up. Hello did you factor in your time, the gas you waisted waiting for that deal. But it appears like you are saving, so you must be saving. So you guys are the type that go to a store see a sale and think ahh wow I am getting a deal today. Why don't you just go to western union pay $20 a d get $200 yup this makes sense. OK, so you have a crystal ball to handle the inevitable population and vehicle increase, what you are going to do to solve this problem??? invent flying cars and a star treck transport system....big fucking LOL! If you are going to say shit like this at least back it up and demonstrate how and what is your solution to deal with congestion.
The only comment that makes sense in your statement is taking this money and investing it somewhere else or being clear how it will be used as a good benefit. I.e. install free charging stations and encouraged electric vehicles.
One refers to passion the other to privacy. On the latter, even a pocket dictionary could have filled in your semantic blank more discreetly. As for your own passion for name-calling in the Forums, you might consider increasing its impact by separating your posts replying to various folks on different points, particularly when you omit the relevant info essential to connecting them. I doubt other TERBians know or care that you couldn't resist horning in on my reply to IM649's earlier hyperbole, but you sure left them in the dark.
On topic: Neither you nor IM (with whom you so fervently agreed) seem unhappy with tolls to buy new roads — in a fit of exuberance he even proposed toll-gates at the bottom of our driveways — but even ignoring the impossibility of building multi-billion dollar roads within cities as fast as consumers can lease cars to congest them, we aren't keeping up with financing maintenance of the roads we have already have. If not by some form of user pay, how? Higher taxes?
Where are your ideas?
Welcome to capitalism. Not everybody can afford a car either. Should we go about giving free cars out as well? Don't those hard working people deserve a car? So unfair that they have to take a bus because they spent their money on beer instead of saving for a car or paying the toll.I have no problem with that . Zoom away . How nice of you to throw that in everyone's face . You can afford to pay the extra tolls . Really . There're many people who work very hard every day but are not able to afford those tolls and will not be able to use those lanes . How nice of you to remind them that your so well off .
Can't wait to see you zoom by and then slam on your brakes because a vehicle in front of you is doing the speed limit holding up every behind them . May I remind you that those lanes have the same speed limit as the other lanes . Apparently many drivers forget that and think that they can go as fast as they want to .
Eventually the province will sell more permits and those lanes will be clogged up like other ones . You think !!!!
The next time you go to the emergency hospital for a problem , guess what Sunshine , it doesn't matter how much money you have . You're still going to wait just like the other people . Your money is not going to help you there .
Again, feel free to honk in frustration as I zoom past at the speed limit while you crawl along in the slow, toll free lane.
Oh, I don't know, use funds collected from taxpayers for their actual purpose: maintaining and expanding infrastructure.
Tell me this: how does a toll lane improve congestion over just having another regular lane? It doesn't. A toll lane would only be, at best, equal to having another regular lane, and then only if everyone on the road had permits and pretty much used it as a regular lane anyway.
Implementing HOT lanes is a money-grab designed to give preferential treatment to wealthy commuters. I consider the ability to use our highways and roads an essential service as a Canadian, so this is a horrid idea in my mind.
