TORONTO - Ontario should follow the example set by some European countries and charge drivers road tolls, congestion fees and gas levies to pay for necessary highway upgrades and improved public transit, a study recommended Monday.
Although the province's former finance minister is already putting the brakes on the proposal, the study's author said the extra charges on 400-series highways and major thoroughfares around the Greater Toronto Area would help reduce both greenhouse gas emissions and traffic jams by getting people off the roads.
"People are now recognizing that something has to be done,'' said Trent University economics professor Harry Kitchen, who wrote the study commissioned by the Residential and Civil Construction Alliance of Ontario.
"There is a general consensus that charging the users makes the most sense.''
Municipalities can't shoulder the responsibility of improving public transit and roads by continually tapping cash-strapped property taxpayers, Kitchen said. Opinion polls show people are more willing to pay tolls if they know the money is being used to improve roads and transit, he said.
A toll of seven cents per kilometre of travel would generate $700 million in revenue each year and drivers could be billed by mail, Kitchen said. A fuel tax of about six cents a litre could generate up to $420 million per year to relieve gridlock and improve public transit without raising property taxes, he added.
Road tolls are used successfully in Singapore, Sweden and the United Kingdom, Kitchen added. It would take time to build the necessary modern infrastructure to charge tolls in Ontario, but Kitchen said the investment would be well worth it.
"It's not necessarily all about raising revenue,'' he said. "It's about getting efficient use of it. What (tolls) are effectively doing is keeping cars off the road -- reduce congestion and reduce their environmental problem. That is a value too.''
While the proposal was applauded by some environmentalists, it didn't get a warm welcome Monday at the Ontario legislature.
Transportation Minister Jim Bradley said he would look at the study but said tolls are unlikely.
"We have always said as a government that we would not be imposing tolls on any existing 400-series highways in Ontario,'' he said.
Former finance minister Greg Sorbara said Ontario doesn't need more user fees since the province already charges fuel consumption taxes, which are being reinvested in highway and public transit projects.
What Ontario really needs is some help from Ottawa, Sorbara said.
"Given the current state of the economy, I wouldn't be one who would be recommending increasing taxes,'' he said.
"I would be recommending strongly that the federal government and federal ministers honour their obligations to invest in infrastructure in this part of the country.''
Conservative Frank Klees said road tolls should be considered when the province embarks on new construction projects and where people can choose not to take the toll road.
But he said slapping user fees on existing highways and roads isn't an option.
"People are already overtaxed and overburdened with costs,'' Klees said. "People deserve choice. To simply pass on to municipalities the right to impose new taxes is not right. I don't think taxpayers should be subjected to that.''
NDP Leader Howard Hampton said slapping road tolls and congestion fees on drivers before giving people a better public transit alternative is putting the "cart before the horse.''
"If you don't build the service to begin with, you're just going to punish a whole bunch of people and not move forward in terms of efficient transportation.''
Andy Manahan, executive director of the Residential and Civil Construction Alliance of Ontario, said he knew the proposal would be controversial. But he said he hasn't given up hope that the province will take the suggestions seriously.
Ontario has to grapple with how to pay for the "massive transportation investment'' the province needs to stay competitive, he said. It just makes sense for people who benefit from provincial services like roads to help pay a little more for their maintenance and repair, he said.
Keith Stewart, manager of the climate change program at the World Wildlife Fund, said imposing user fees on drivers makes a lot of sense if the cash goes to fund alternatives to the car.
It also makes sense to expand tolls and congestion charges beyond Toronto so employers aren't pushed out into suburban areas that are less accessible by public transit, he said.
"The gas tax and the road tolls can provide the disincentive to drive but, at the same time, better transit gives you the incentive to take that,'' Stewart said. "It's kind of a carrot and a stick. That's much more effective than either one alone.''
