This article was last updated on April 16, 2022
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QUEEN’S PARK – With the government refusing to share basic information with Ontarians about its toll scheme, Trinity-Spadina MPP Rosario Marchese today called on Liberals to be more transparent about their pricey plans.
“The Minister of Finance says tolls will generate $250 million to $300 million while Metrolinx says it will generate $25 million, and the Minister of Transportation won’t tell us anything,” said Marchese. “No one in government will say how much it will cost to build the lanes, where the lanes will be, what the toll will cost or whether this expensive scheme will actually break even.”
In February, it was revealed that 14 miles of high occupancy toll (HOT) lane in Washington, DC had lost $11 million in just its first six weeks of operation.
“The experience of tolling high occupancy lanes in other places is that the cost of construction and enforcement is high, while the revenues generated are low,” said Marchese. “In many areas, these lanes have lost money or have struggled to break even.”
Marchese urged the government to invest in new transportation choices for Ontarians, not waste time trying to manage our existing, limited transportation choices. His views are echoed in a recent City of Toronto staff report that recommends against introducing high occupancy toll lanes, describing them as “more appropriate when additional transit choices are available to residents.”
“Why is the government committing to an expensive and risky scheme that is not a serious revenue tool for transit without providing any reason at all to think that it will work?” asked Marchese.
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