Bob Rae Proposes Congestion Tax As A Means To Relieve Gridlock
Posted October 13, 2006 12:00 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
And now that Bob Rae has pulled the switch and is looking to lead the Liberals, some voters may not be too happy with a suggestion he made in Mississauga Friday.
Rae believes the only way to ease the ever growing congestion on the already busy highways across the country is to force motorists to pay a congestion tax.
Such a fee already exists in London and while it has reduced traffic chaos in the U.K. city, it’s also left drivers who need to bring their cars into the core paying a small fortune.
Rae also wants to see parking fees hiked as another means to discourage cars, reduce pollution and encourage public transit.
“Until we see a transformation in the internal combustion engine, and we don’t know how long that is going to take, we do have to reduce travel time and increase the use of public transportation,” he explains.
But his plan isn’t without a financial benefit for you – he believes the extra money such a levy would almost certainly bring in should be offset by an income tax cut.
While just about every G.T.A. driver would agree something needs to be done about gridlock, if history is any indication, most won’t be willing to pay for it.
When Mayor David Miller mused out loud about installing toll roads during the last municipal election, he almost lost his lead in the polls.
And critics point out that London has a subway and bus transit system that’s far more extensive and convenient than the one in Toronto.
Rae agrees his suggestion would have to be followed by a significant transit service increase.
“Having a green infrastructure program is the most important thing we can do in terms of increasing the amount of public transit and the amount of options that are available,” he admits.
Rae has yet to be elected to anything, and is one of several Liberal leadership hopefuls in the race to challenge Stephen Harper’s Tories.
The Grits will choose their next boss in December, and Rae is amongst the frontrunners, along with Michael Ignatieff, Gerard Kennedy and Stephane Dion.
