‘Third rail’: Why Hwy. 407 has become an Ontario election issue

A sign for Hwy. 407 is seen in this file photo.

Three days after Doug Ford confirmed he would call a snap election for Ontario, NDP Leader Marit Stiles stood in Brampton to make her first campaign promise.

Standing beside two local NDP candidates, Stiles announced that if elected, her party would remove tolls for all drivers on Highway 407.

“As your next premier, I will make the 407 toll-free, put money back in your pockets, and get you home to your loved ones faster,” Stiles said.

It was a bold promise considering that Ontario is not even halfway through a 99-year lease agreement struck for the highway by former PC premier Mike Harris back in 1999.

Stiles elaborated that she would remove tolls for trucks on Day 1 in order to relieve congestion on Highway 401, and would drop tolls on the provincially-owned sections of the highway. She would then enter into negotiations with the consortium that owns the rest of the 407 to try remove tolls for everyone across the entire highway.

Then this week, PC Leader Doug Ford promised that if he is re-elected he will remove tolls on all publicly-owned portions of the highway, saying “it’s never been more important to protect people’s wallets by putting more money back into their pockets.”

For years traffic management experts have said that putting a price on congestion should be part of a suite of measures aimed at reducing gridlock and getting people out of their cars. But in Ontario’s election, there appears to be scant support for doing so.

Tolls have consistently risen on the highway over the past two decades. So why is it suddenly an election issue?

Tolls bad politics during an affordability crisis

“Road tolls and congestion charges; This is the third rail of politics in Ontario. You touch it and you get a shock,” Matti Siemiatycki, who is the director of the Infrastructure Institute at the University of Toronto, told CP24.com. “Doug Ford has gotten elected twice by being laser-focused on making driving more affordable and more appealing to suburban commuters.”

This week Ford took that idea even further, promising to introduce legislation that would make it illegal for any municipality to introduce a congestion charge. That promise comes as a congestion charge recently introduced in New York City shows promising results for reducing gridlock, raising questions about whether other jurisdictions should consider the move.

“At the moment, we’re in the midst of an affordability crisis, and road tolls are deeply unpopular,” said Siemiatycki. “They’re very visible and for commuters, especially in the 905, that highway (407) and congestion is a major issue.”

He points out that around two thirds of GTA residents live in a suburb and the majority are highly dependent on their cars, so “it’s not surprising” that politicians would seize on promises around making driving more convenient and cheaper.

Despite the tolls, traffic continues to increase on the 407. While traffic volumes plunged on the toll highway during the pandemic, they have been steadily growing since, according to data published online by 407 ETR, the company that owns the highway.

407 ETR charges according to a variety of different factors, including vehicle size, geographic zones, time of day, and whether or not you have a transponder.

For its part, the company says it has invested $2 billion toward highway extensions, expansions and customer service since 1999.

The company also recently expanded a program to offer up to six free trips a month to some low-income Ontarians.

“Tolls and fees pay for essential services, including highway maintenance, snow removal and policing to ensure trips are as safe and smooth as possible,” the company said in a recent statement released with its latest fee schedule.

In another recent statement, the company said it is not engaged in any discussions around selling off the highway, but is open to hear proposals on relieving congestion.

“We continue to have regular meetings with elected government officials to explore opportunities to alleviate congestion across the region and provide a fast, safe and reliable commute,” the company said.

Dropping tolls could help short-term, hurt long-term

While dropping road tolls to ease congestion might be good politics in a campaign, there’s a catch.

“The problem is it doesn’t work. It’ll actually make congestion worse, not better,” Siemiatycki said.

That’s because removing the tolls actually encourages more people to drive, adding more cars to the road, Siemiatycki said. So while there might be some initial relief, the problem will just come back worse eventually.

While policy experts understand this, it’s a difficult idea to instill in a population being hit with the rising cost of everything. That may explain why, despite the fact that removing tolls are counter-productive in the long-run, almost all the parties are talking about doing so.

For their part the Green Party said they support the creation of dedicated truck lanes on Highway 407 and the removal of tolls for transport trucks as an immediate solution to address gridlock on the 401.

“We recognize that in order to reduce gridlock in the long term, we need to create more affordable, reliable options for people to get where they need to go. That includes two-way, all-day GO train and intercity bus service, better bike and e-bike infrastructure, and dedicated transit lanes.”

The Ontario Liberal Party pointed out that it was Ford’s party that sold off the highway to begin with when asked if they have any plans around tolls.

“The Conservatives have a record of selling out the people of Ontario to the highest bidder. And it’s left our roads jammed as people idle in traffic for hours on end,” Liberal Leader Bonnie Crombie said in an emailed statement.

She said “serious solutions” are needed to combat gridlock, but did not say what those would look like or whether that would include any promises around tolls.

Just because you don’t get a bill, doesn’t mean you aren’t paying

One thing that voters might want to consider when weighing the various promises around road tolls is that the cost of congestion is often hidden.

“When the plumber comes to your house and can only do two service calls in a day instead of three or four because of congestion, they’re going to charge you more for that visit,” Siemiatycki said. “When stuff gets delivered here, it costs more because of how much congestion there is.”

So even if you feel like you’re saving by not paying tolls, anything the government does which ultimately results in greater congestion in the long run will drive up living costs for everyone.

And if the government were to negotiate a deal that would see tolls removed from the highway, Siemiatycki said, taxpayers would likely pay an unseen cost for that as well in compensation paid to 407 ETR.

“Nothing gets given up without a price, and everything is for sale at a cost,” he pointed out.

Some encouraging signs

Despite the fact that the charged politics around Hwy. 407 might be more complex than campaign promises make it seem, Siemiatycki said it is encouraging to see a discussion around congestion in the campaign.

He said it’s also encouraging that at the same time, the parties seem to recognize the importance of investing in transit as a way of easing congestion as well.

“This is the biggest transit building boom in a generation that they (the PC’s) are embarking on across the region,” Siemiatycki said.

“The NDP has talked about covering 50 per cent of transit operating costs. That’s a huge deal for transit because transit is not just about capital, it’s also about operating and transit agencies have been struggling.”

He pointed out that the Liberals have also been talking about making transit safer, and therefore more attractive to people.

While those conversations are encouraging and necessary, Siemiatycki said, the discussion around tolls shows that politically, victory is still charted in Ontario by appealing to drivers.

“You can still see, through all of it, how focus on improving car commuting and making it cheaper is a key piece of the policy of the political puzzle, because they see that as a pathway to election.”