Toll lanes coming to QEW

[fuji]

Modern systems integrate with traffic enforcement so police can see in real-time whether you have paid the toll as you pass an automated checkpoint and if you have only one occupant they can pull you over and ticket.

Contrary to your whiny fear mongering this system is simple and it works.

 

[IM469]

They aren't going to that kind of effort - the end game is to tax everyone in the HOV lane, then the highway and as soon as it's feasible - as soon as you back out your driveway. They are suggesting they are only putting in the tip but we all know how that story ends.

As such a well-informed insider, I think you owe us TERBians more updates on the secret purposes and strategies of the government of which you must be a member. A daily blog would be best.

Clearly you are a fervent — but secret — socialist valiantly trying to preserve The People's Democratic Free Sidewalks and Roads. And Bicycle Lanes and Parking on the Free Roads and, …, and …. Yay for you! Higher taxes for ALL!

Bullshit - I am a tax payer who is sick of paying for the same thing over and over. There are no free sidewalks or roads - they are paid for through your taxes. You are already paying for the highways and roads through high gasoline taxes, vehicle fees and permits. So spare me your socialist rhetoric with this communist crap that the government is entitled to all the money you earn.

You are 'old' Jones .. if you are not old enough to suffer from alzheimer's - do you remember the Ontario Sun Cor tax ? Ontario added a fuel tax to help the purchase of Sun Cor shares which it divested itself but did the taxes go down ? Is there any tax that the Ontario government has put in place that hasn't expanded during budgets ? Any of those sin taxes ?

So you think that I must have inside knowledge that once the Ontario government puts a new tax spigot and sets it on dribble, that there will be no future thought of just turning that tap and get all those additional tax dollars ??? Really ??? You think I am taking a huge leap of logic in figuring that the politicians have not already recognized how easy the toll revenue will come in if they get minimal resistance on this little revenue setup ??

 

[Promo]

Modern systems integrate with traffic enforcement so police can see in real-time whether you have paid the toll as you pass an automated checkpoint and if you have only one occupant they can pull you over and ticket.

Contrary to your whiny fear mongering this system is simple and it works.

More Fuji bullsh*t.

Regardless, not the technology being proposed by the Ontario gov't.

 

[oldjones]

That's why I said earlier that if they toll the road it should be for all road users, not just those that want to pay. That's how it works for all other forms of transit. If you fly, take a train, the subway, rent a car, etc then everyone pays. Sure, there are people that can pay more for a 'premium' ticket, but everyone still pays.

You know all those condo and commercial towers inside the downtown core pay taxes that go to the city right?

So I use the public road when I bike; by your all-users-are-equal scenario, I should never ever be confined to a piddling single-file bike lane, that's routinely obstructed by construction, deliveries and short and long term parking. Nor should I politely move to the side to accommodate drivers who could go faster than I can when there is no 'special' lane for me.

Everyone does pay for the roads, that's why they're 'free'. But just because I paid for the sidewalk, I can't pull my car onto it to park and avoid the ticket I'd get for prohibited parking on the road. In fact I'd get a bigger ticket. And if I want/need to occupy a traffic-lane I apply and pay for a Lane Occupancy Permit. Specialized facilities and tailored treatment are just one of the many ways we all get our share of the goods and services we all pay for.

That road's still free and still there for all, but like buying your way into a clean, filtered pool, or into a Green P lot, if you want the extra convenience, you pay extra.

 

[KBear]

As such a well-informed insider, I think you owe us TERBians more updates on the secret purposes and strategies of the government of which you must be a member. A daily blog would be best.

Clearly you are a fervent — but secret — socialist valiantly trying to preserve The People's Democratic Free Sidewalks and Roads. And Bicycle Lanes and Parking on the Free Roads and, …, and …. Yay for you! Higher taxes for ALL!

The Liberals want about $1,000 more per driver. Has been discussed. The Toronto City Summit Alliance, Tolls, taxes, fees for transit? John Tory aims to lessen the stigma

Seems the people so pissed at Harris for selling the 407 toll highway, are applauding Wynne for tolling the existing highways.

Tolling these HOT lanes will not generate enough tax revenue for the liberals to make any difference. The next logical step is to toll the whole highway. Sure you and fugi will be applauding and justifying the new tolls when it happens.

Modern systems integrate with traffic enforcement so police can see in real-time whether you have paid the toll as you pass an automated checkpoint and if you have only one occupant they can pull you over and ticket.

Contrary to your whiny fear mongering this system is simple and it works.

While stuck in traffic I counted the number of people legitimately in the HOV lane during the Pan Am games, and about half should not have been in the lane. The cops did enforce the HOV lanes in some cases, when traffic was slow or almost stopped, but is too dangerous to enforce HOT lanes when traffic is moving fast.

 

[KBear]

Well, they do have a monkey on their back. http://www.debtclock.ca/provincial-debtclocks/ontario/ontario-s-debt/

Another monkey Ontario's credit rating downgraded over heavy debt load, budgeting

 

[Promo]

Your concerns belong in the Technology Forum, surely.

Wrong - belongs in this thread. The gov't is proposing a new idea that is technology dependent. If the technology as proposed can't provide the solution, this needs to be highlighted and discussed.

On the couple of non-tech points: I don't think sleeping infants qualify a driver to move into the HOV lane;

Wrong again. Perfect example of why current HOV laws are foolish. Why do motorcycles qualify? Why do hybrid cars qualify? Many hybrids are about adding more power or boosting city mileage neither of which apply to highway driving conditions.

With HOT, those single-occupant drivers you have noticed, would now be identifiable by the technology that determines whether a car had paid/had an account, and the same convenient and scrupulously fair system that keeps 407 open, flowing and profitable could be applied to collection.

Wrong. The 407 toll technology is not the same as the technology being proposed for the QEW/427 toll (not referring to the experiment period).

 

[rhuarc29]

As much as I wanted the Liberals to take power federally, I can't wait to boot Wynne and her Liberals out come next election. Privatizing Hydro One and now this. Short-sighted thinking to make a quick buck, all while the ship is taking on water. How is that different than what the federal conservatives did in selling their shares of GM so that they could say that this year would be a budget surplus?

Ontario is in deep shit. The answer is to scale back on pet projects, not increase fees to pay for them. The other answer is to have effective leadership that doesn't cause catastrophe after catastrophe, but I can't remember the last time Ontario had that....

 

[dirkd101]

This is just another tax grab...

If they added lanes somehow, I don't see an issue. But in the current configuration, traffic congestion will increase as it did during the Pan-Ams. I suspect they know this, banking on more people to ante up to use those lanes.

 

[anon1]

Why would anybody PAY to use the HOV lanes?
It's always clogged up by some minivan doing 110.

 

[rhuarc29]

Why would anybody PAY to use the HOV lanes?
It's always clogged up by some minivan doing 110.

True. But there are times when it does move faster than the majority of traffic. I said it before: HOV lanes don't in practicality improve traffic congestion more than having an additional regular lane. Neither will this HOT lane. I disapprove of either, but hopefully the HOT lanes will help pay off some of Ontario's debt (not likely).

 

[fuji]

Why would anybody PAY to use the HOV lanes?
It's always clogged up by some minivan doing 110.

Because the other lanes are full of swerving idiots who think that by changing lanes six times in five minutes they might get a car length or two ahead, but only serve to slow traffic to a crawl.

 

[AK-47]

Nah, HOT lanes are a great idea. Those who wanna drive like turtles stay in right lanes, and those who wanna go faster pay a bit more and get to avoid the slowpokes

 

[GameBoy27]

Your concerns belong in the Technology Forum, surely.

On the couple of non-tech points: I don't think sleeping infants qualify a driver to move into the HOV lane; they certainly don't answer the law's intent of removing a car from the road-load by making a driver into a passenger.

Hardly necessary to start another HOV topic, but I will if it makes you feel better.

That's where you're wrong. Sleeping infants do qualify drivers to use HOV lanes.

The HOV lanes are HOV 2+, meaning two or more people must occupy the vehicle. An occupant is any person who occupies one seat in the vehicle (i.e. Pregnant mothers count as one occupant, and an infant in an infant seat counts as one occupant).

 

[AK-47]

The HOV lanes are HOV 2+, meaning two or more people must occupy the vehicle. An occupant is any person who occupies one seat in the vehicle (i.e. Pregnant mothers count as one occupant, and an infant in an infant seat counts as one occupant)

I dont get this logic. Isnt it smarter to keep mothers with babies or infants in the slow lanes, as opposed to the HOV or HOT lanes??!

The last thing I'd want is my mom and child going 120 kmh with someone tailgating them, because they think they should be going 130 kmh

 

[GameBoy27]

I dont get this logic. Isnt it smarter to keep mothers with babies or infants in the slow lanes, as opposed to the HOV or HOT lanes??!

The last thing I'd want is my mom and child going 120 kmh with someone tailgating them, because they think they should be going 130 kmh

I assume rather than arbitrarily choosing an age for passengers, it's open to anyone regardless of age. I think you're more likely to be involved in a crash in the slow lane with drivers constantly changing lanes to get on and off the highway. For that reason alone I'd say the HOV lane is safer. No trucks either.

 

[nottyboi]

I guess the message from the Ontario govt is, if you have money you don't need friends lol.

 

[jcpro]

This is a gift to those among us who don't mind paying. The rest can go and fuck themselves- that's the message from Queen's Park.

 

[nottyboi]

This is a gift to those among us who don't mind paying. The rest can go and fuck themselves- that's the message from Queen's Park.

Maybe go Park themselves lol

 

[Gibby]

Camera's based on satellites in space can read a cars license plate.

The technology is here.