City Hall’s solution to gridlock is to make it so expensive to drive that only the wealthy will be able to afford it. Instead of investing in public transit, Toronto’s plan is to tax the poor right off the road, leaving more room for CEOs and politicians to cruise around in Teslas.
Traffic is something everyone in Toronto complains about, but this CBC article about how to ‘Tackle Toronto’s Congestion Crisis‘ shows that there is no effective solution coming from City Hall; just cash grabs.
1.) Congestion Charges:
Make motorists pay to drive downtown during rush hour, just like London and NYC. For the rich, and extra $20 a day means nothing, but that’s the hourly wage for some in the working class. That should keep the peasants out of Cybertruck’s way.
2.) Automated Cameras:
Red light cameras, bus lane cameras and block-the-box cameras are supposed to deter improper driving. But mailing out tickets weeks after an infraction doesn’t work. Traffic wardens at problem intersections solves the problem. But that would cost money instead of generating it.
3.) Overnight Deliveries:
Part of the Toronto’s plan to cure traffic is to give tax breaks for businesses to receive deliveries at night. The idea is to reduce vehicle volumes during the day, when commuters are on the roads. No concern is given to the quality of life to the working class truck driver or warehouse workers who won’t see their kids.
More than 100 years has passed since the Model T changed the automobile from a luxury for the rich into something attainable to everyman. The automobile is an egalitarian form of transportation. Age, gender or disability do not prohibit someone from driving a car, enjoying mobility in comfort and dignity.
But this attack on the poor, the working class, is just evil. Indirect taxes on the people who can least afford it is just designed to benefit the rich. City Hall is determined to make the car the exclusive possession of the rich again.
They gotta keep the low-lifes at bay. They don’t want those greasing little gas burners contaminating their sucky cyber trucks. That’s a sorry sack of social engineering they’re wanting to soak Torontonians with. Amazing how politicos rarely come up with original ideas. I think they get more taxes stapled into their brains when they are sworn into office.
It’s only a matter of time until Toronto restricts major roads to electric cars only. It’s a further way of controlling the population.
.
Once every sucker buys an electric car (and internal combustion cars are effectively banned) the restrictions will start. I saw it in Athens in the 1990s. Can’t remember if the reasons were pollution or fuel rationing, but even numbered plates on M,W,F odd numbered plated T,T,S. Alternate bi-weekly.
.
Imagine your government is going to tell you what days you can drive!
.
I just cannot stand this BS user fees, indirect taxes and such that drivers in Toronto are hit with. It impacts the poor amongst us the most. And that seems to be exactly what these dopes at City Hall really want.
.
P.S. The rich ones in Athens had 2+ cars, so the ‘limitations’ did not impact them.
I was going to say, those who can have two cars get the plates. When I had two RX-8s, one could be even, the other odd, and our Mazdapeed3 “Not Even!”
I’m not one of those ‘doomsday is coming’ kind of guys. And I don’t have a stash of food in a survival shelter. But some of the changes in attitudes and policies towards cars alarms me, as a sign of what’s to come in other aspects of society.
.
There seems to be a movement against private vehicle ownership. Ride-sharing and those short term car rental things (ZipCar) seem to have some people convinced they don’t NEED to own a car. Some folks just rely on a ‘ride’ being available whenever.
.
And I really despise the incendiary language and nasty attitude media and government show towards cars with internal combustion engines. Calling them ‘gas-guzzlers’ and treating drivers who haven’t been brainwashed to buying an electric car like second class citizens.
.
Every God-fearing American needs at least two Mazdas and a pickup truck with a carburetor.
Absolutely.
When we lived in Madrid, Spain, for 4 years, we did not have a car. The Metro in Madrid is really good, as is their bus system, so we never had a problem getting around. Car ownership in Madrid is expensive, and paying for a parking place requires a second mortgage. I would rent a car when we went out of town.
In New Mexico, one cannot function without a car. There is no real public transportation, and everything is spread out, so lots of driving is necessary.
How interesting! I knew none of that (about either Spain or New Mexico).
Another interesting thing about Madrid is that Friday and Saturday nights the main streets are gridlocked from people driving in from the suburbs to party. The Metro closes at 2:00 a.m., so people don’t want to get stuck for 4 hours until it opens at 6:00 a.m.
On Saturday night I was driving a rental car into Madrid to turn it in. The rental place closed at 11:00 p.m. I got 20 Km outside Madrid at 10:00 p.m., and the interstate was a parking lot. We crawled along in stop-and-go traffic, all the way to the rental place. We arrived at 10:55 p.m.
On time, we wanted to get out on our driving adventure early, so we rented the car for Saturday, but picked it up at closing time so we didn’t have to pay for Friday. By the time we got back to our neighborhood, all the streets were double-parked and people were triple-parking. After driving around for an hour and a half looking for a space, I dropped my wife off and continued to look. I gave up at 2:00 a.m. and parked in the underground parking. I picked the car up at 5:00 a.m. The parking fee was $50!
What is really different about Madrid during rush hour, cops will stand on Grande Villa, waving traffic along to keep it moving. Drivers who are not driving fast enough are waved over and given tickets. I wish our cops would ticket slow drivers and drivers who block traffic. We have way too many greenies who think they are saving the planet by driving 10 MPH under the speed limit while traffic piles up behind them. The speed limits are already set 10 mph below the natural driving speeds of the roads out here.