Ontario HOT Lanes coming.

[Boges]

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/hot-lanes-del-duca-1.3353214

The Ontario government will announce details this morning of its plans for high-occupancy toll lanes — and what it will cost drivers to use them.

The announcement is scheduled for 9:30 a.m. ET Monday. CBC.ca will live-stream the announcement.

• Unlock Toronto gridlock with 'congestion pricing,' report says

The so-called HOT lanes will allow motorists without passengers to pay to use High-Occupancy-Vehicle (HOV) lanes, which were designed to encourage carpooling.

The plan is to create HOT lanes only where there are existing HOV lanes, which are free for any driver with at least one passenger — but carpooling and toll lanes could also be created on any new or expanded highways.

"On the provincial highway network, we will not be taking out general purpose lanes for the HOTs," Transportation Minister Steve Del Duca said early this fall.

So if anyone has driven on highways in the suburbs of Toronto, you'll notice theOntario Liberals have built carpooling lanes on very busy stretches.

Apparently today the Liberals are going to announce its plan to Toll these lanes for single occupancy drivers. So basically Lexus Lanes. Basically and admission that carpooling doesn't work.

Back before the last Provincial Election Wynne looked at "revenue tools" to raise money for transit infrastructure. The easiest options were the least popular. New Gas Tax, Raising the HST, Parking Tax. Wynne knew she would have been kicked out had she done any of these things. So HOT lanes are the one option that doesn't make people outraged. I just don't know how it'll work. How can you confirm someone is using their with more than one person and if not how do you toll them?

And would the upfront cost in making these lanes equipped to toll people cost more than the potential revenue?

Car pooling is not a viable option for most people. You have to meet up with a person that works the same schedule as you every day and be willing to meet with them everyday. The beauty of owning a car is the freedom of being able to go wherever you want.

I'm interested to see what the Province says about implementing this plan today, but I suspect it'll just be some vague plan with no specifics.

[Moonlight Graham]

The ON Liberals and TO city counsel do it again! Toronto's transportation infrastructure is so terribly mismanaged. The city brings in a ton of immigrants, and the added tax dollars they pay the province, but the city and prov fail to provide the needed infrastructure to accommodate them, and nothing much worse than transportation. The traffic is a nightmare, the 401 almost useless at peak periods, and the subway system in desperate need of expansion in almost every direction. More regular lanes need to be built to reduce traffic on highways, not pay lanes and car pool lanes. The economic (and social) costs of people being stuck wasting time in traffic is massive, Toronto spent all that money on the Pan-Am Games instead of much more needed infrastructure and now they want to jack prices of travel to pay for it, and want the rest of the province to chip in too I gather? The GTA has almost 7 million people, that's a ton of tax money to make things work, tax hikes and new user fees shouldn't be needed and transportation should be able to be funded as scalable with tax growth from population growth.

This simply comes down to horrible budgeting and money management by both the city and prov.

Edited December 7, 2015 by Moonlight Graham

[Moonlight Graham]

Isn't this just a cash grab anyways? Aren't toll lanes bad for traffic? Why would you build a lane that LESS people will drive on? The 401 in Toronto is a nightmare, meanwhile you have the tolled 407 that seems always much emptier. If you simply open the 407 to everyone, it will relieve pressure on the 401 and make traffic better for everyone minus the minority toll payers, while making the need to expand the 401 less.

Edited December 7, 2015 by Moonlight Graham

[Boges]

It's a stupid plan, and it's completely unenforceable.

Unless you have the 407 Billing method you can't prevent people that shouldn't be on the lane from going on there.

During rush hour if a cop stops a driver on the an HOV because they shouldn't be on it, you back up the entire lane for all the people that are "paying" to use it.

Some very wealthy people may pay it, but it's cost benefit. How often would you be stopped using it illegally vs how expensive would it be to use it legally.

The only way for this to actually work would scrap the High Occupancy part. Make it a separate toll lane and let the people that want to pay, pay. Like the 407. If you're carpooling then split the cost amongst those people and let all cabs and buses use the lane for free.

[Smeelious]

My understanding is it's permit based, you'd be paying monthly (or something) for a sticker / rearview mirror hangy. It's certainly the least expensive way of implementing.

As for enforcement it'd be the sameish as now, just the police would have to be weary of said stickers/hangies.

Generally though I agree that this isn't a great idea, and completely defeats the HOV's purpose anyway. btw, I love the 407, but use it very sparingly (though my last job I used it everyday, and paid for it gladly.)

[Boges]

The 407 is great. But it's way too expensive during rush hour. I actually use it most during the weekend if I want to get home faster.

Toronto could easily have a congestion fee by tolling the Gardiner and the DVP, but then people would just take Dundas, Lakeshore or Yonge Street just to get downtown.