Beyond the Headlines
Former Scarborough councillor and city budget chief David Soknacki offers his insight on municipal politics.
more from this authorDVP tolls would help the drivers and the city
Behind the Headlines
There's an uproar every time tolls are mentioned. Depending on your viewpoint the argument is either about double taxation or unquestionable virtue. Thanks to the public's healthy suspicion of both taxes and virtue, little progress has been made in the debate.
Self-interest is far easier to understand.
Highway tolls can be discussed sensibly when framed in terms of selling faster commuting time to those who want to pay for it. Public benefits, such as supporting Toronto's economic viability and transit, come along for the ride.
A strong case can be made for adding a high occupancy toll (HOT) lane each way on the Don Valley Parkway. Such a lane would provide an expressway for high-occupancy vehicles and those willing to pay. Tolls can be adjusted by vehicle type, number of passengers, time of day and even level of surrounding congestion.
Toll revenues would first be used to pay for the original investment, as well as specific transit projects to benefit those who might be induced - not coerced - to leave their cars at home on this route. Examples could include rapid transit in the Don Valley itself or expansion in the fast-growing northern and eastern parts of the region that feed into the corridor.
Without a doubt Toronto's need for tolls is complicated by its precarious position in our economy. The city's sole strong area of high-value job growth is in services downtown. As executives and municipal planners are well aware, these industries need no fancy downtown address. Decision makers already have shown concern over the amount of commuting time since congestion now ranks as a major factor in selecting office space. Causing jobs to flee for more accessible locations is not the way to relieve gridlock.
At the same time there are other forces at work. If Toronto's downtown remains competitive - in terms of amenities, quality of life as well as cost - businesses are likely to stay. Over the long term there are positive factors such as the intensification of our downtown core and a being part of a city that is enjoyable, safe and affordable.
Staying just ahead of the curve means relieving congestion while respecting commuters who live beyond rapid transit.
Offer suburbanites a value proposition. Their choices will be to commute as before, or to pay for a faster drive, or to take a new transit route. If they stick to their old routine, no one is any the worse.
But should these commuters choose to take either the new lanes or transit routes they will be relieving congestion and financing infrastructure.
