12-16-2016, 10:53 AM
(This post was last modified: 12-16-2016, 10:54 AM by danbrotherston.)
@SammyOES2 @MidTowner
The issue with only tolling one road is probably valid. My answer to that is a CBD congestion charge. Of course, that probably makes less sense in Waterloo Region where our CBD is fragile to begin with, and not terribly congested.
But in general, road tolls have the benefit of directly pricing the resource, which helps prevent overconsumption. Right now the policy in WR seems to be meet any demand at any cost. I.e., spend as much as needed to widen roads so that we don't suffer congestion. This policy works here for the moment, but it doesn't work in Toronto due to space and financial constraints. We'll get there, but not before it's a wasteland of lanes and parking. We need to change our policies before then, and I do think there is movement away from this policy. But I'm more in favour of pricing parking first. I'd really like to see a "no free parking anywhere (except maybe your own house)" policy.
The issue with only tolling one road is probably valid. My answer to that is a CBD congestion charge. Of course, that probably makes less sense in Waterloo Region where our CBD is fragile to begin with, and not terribly congested.
But in general, road tolls have the benefit of directly pricing the resource, which helps prevent overconsumption. Right now the policy in WR seems to be meet any demand at any cost. I.e., spend as much as needed to widen roads so that we don't suffer congestion. This policy works here for the moment, but it doesn't work in Toronto due to space and financial constraints. We'll get there, but not before it's a wasteland of lanes and parking. We need to change our policies before then, and I do think there is movement away from this policy. But I'm more in favour of pricing parking first. I'd really like to see a "no free parking anywhere (except maybe your own house)" policy.