Quote:
Originally Posted by miketoronto
I don't think a sales tax increase would be good. Instead they should raise income taxes and have fees to pay for some things, like a new toll on new highways to pay off the costs of construction.
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Toll roads would work IMO, including on existing rural freeways (NOT on some existing urban freeways, particularly in the GTA but also in Ottawa and Hamilton) due to the potential for extreme congestion on parallel roads, even if transit absorbs some of the traffic). However, on highways like the 401 that serve long-distance travel, the per kilometre toll would have to be
much lower than on commuter-focused highways. For example, a trip from Kingston to Oshawa (distance of 196 km) would have a toll of $9.80 at 5 cents per kilometre, which could only be increased legally by no more than 1 cent every 5 years.
Tolls should be prohibited, however, in Northern Ontario (north of the Severn River in MTO's Northeast and Northwest Regions), due to the lack of alternate routes in most cases.
Road toll revenue should be dedicated as follows:
60% - Highway construction and maintenance
20% - Municipal road operations
20% - Public transportation