[URBAN NOTE] "City manager blasts Wynne’s U-turn on tolls"

[rfmcdpei]

The Toronto Star's David Rider reports on how Toronto city manager Peter Wallace has criticized the Ontario government's refusal to let Toronto levy tolls on the Gardiner Expressway and the Don Valley Parkway.

By flip-flopping on tolls Premier Kathleen Wynne has robbed Toronto of badly needed revenue, prolonged gridlock and undercut the city’s

Comments

[anonymous]

I would take his words more seriously if Toronto was actually using the revenue tools they do have.

This looks like an attempt to tax outsiders while keeping Toronto property taxes low (half the rate of the rest of the GTA). And what of Toronto residents who need to use those roads? What about other roads as well?

And frankly, if he's after recovering the cost of maintaining the roads then trucks have to be MUCH more heavily tolled than the current plan. A truck does 10-20 times the wear-and-tear on a road as a car does, yet will only be tolled twice as much.

Hey, maybe he could put a cost-recovery fee on road closures for condo construction too. Recover the cost in lost time currently paid by the citizens of Toronto.