TRUTH BE TOLLED
Toronto isn’t alone when it comes to considering road charges,
For the first time since the colonial era, the main gateways to downtown Toronto appear set to impose fees on motorists.
As the cash-strapped city awaits final approval from the province on tolling the commuter-jammed Gardiner and Don Valley expressways, here’s a look at how road charges are evolving elsewhere.
GERMANY’S AUTOBAHN MOTORWAYS
What: The first-ever fees are closing in on Germany’s national motorways. But in a grumpy, if not Trumpy twist, foreign drivers are the target.
Everyone will pay under Germany’s proposed roadtoll scheme, but German motorists are expected to get the cash back in tax breaks that will reward cleaner vehicles.
Toll: As much as € 20, about $28, for a 10-day pass. When: The controversial plan won grudging European Union approval late in 2016, with charges likely to begin in 2018.
The take: German transport officials project as much as € 500 million ($700 million) a year in new revenue for infrastructure projects.
MOTORWAYS THROUGHOUT EUROPE
What: When European Union Transport Commissioner Violeta Bulc agreed to the German plan in December, she vowed it was but a “first step toward a common European framework for road charging.” Translation: The EU has its own ambitious plans for a modern digital overhaul of tolls on Europe’s main thoroughfares, with new standardized fees based on how much any given car pollutes.
Toll: Too early to say. The EU is still deciding whether charges will be based on how long cars spend on the road or the distance they drive. Either way, the scheme will place the heaviest burden on inefficient vehicles, nudging drivers toward lower-carbon options. When: The EU says it will propose a new law by April.
The take: Europe’s roadways will need an investment of € 700 billion (nearly $1 trillion) by 2030, according to European Commission estimates. Tolls are expected to provide the bulk of the cash.
TEXAS
What: The Lone Star State is hopping mad about tolls these days. The anti-toll mood began with pushback against former governor Rick Perry’s proposal to pave the state with the massive, 6,400-kilometre privately operated Trans-Texas Corridor road network and has now grown into a movement to undo tolling entirely.
Toll: Charges vary throughout Texas, but attention is fixed upon newly unveiled “managed lane” systems in Dallas, Houston and Austin, where drivers have the choice between the slower free roads or the quicker pay lane, where “variable” or “dynamic” tolls can soar to as much as 75 cents per kilometre during rush hour.
When: Grassroots anti-toll peaked in 2015 with a passage of a series of new Texas laws to limit or even eliminate future tolling.
The take: Just one wee snag: Texas did the math and realized it would take the equivalent of $40 billion Canadian to pay off the public debt on state-financed toll roads. Not gonna happen anytime soon.
TRUMP’S AMERICA
What: President Donald Trump’s trillion-dollar plan to overhaul U.S. infrastructure is a kind of leveraged buy-in, with the feds dangling $137 billion (U.S.) worth of tax credits to entice private investors to back a rebuilding frenzy worth $1 trillion over 10 years.
Toll: Whatever the ultimate cost, transportation experts anticipate the Trump plan is bound to translate into a new American toll rush, as public-private partnerships look to drivers’ pockets for a return on their road and bridge investments.
When: Whenever Trump gets around to it. Elaine Chao, Trump’s transportation secretary nominee, hinted at the possibility of some direct federal infrastructure spending in addition to tax credits, telling a Senate hearing that the Highway Trust Fund was “among the top priorities” for Trump. She gave no timeline.
The take: Critics say the bulk of America’s most-neglected, shovel-ready roads and bridges need incremental work rather than outright replacement with toll-based mega-projects. Trump needs more than a one-size plan to fit this many needs.
SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA
What: Australia’s biggest cities went all-in on private toll roads 25 years ago and the result in Sydney is an ever-expanding electronic matrix, where the longest daily commutes to and from work can add up to as much as $500 in monthly charges. But even that could change dramatically in the foreseeable future, as Transurban, the country’s largest and most profitable private toll operator, nudges Australians toward the idea of doing away with highway tolls altogether and instead shifting to a broad user-pay system, metering everyone’s car directly and imposing fees for every kilometre they drive.
Toll: In a recent field study by Transurban, the company provided 1,200 motorists with matchbook-sized geolocator devices and a make-believe $92 a month and gave them the choice of how to pay —$1 a trip, 10 cents a kilometre or a flat monthly rate for the entire sum, with added charges for those who exceed 926 kilometres. When: Five years? Ten? Never. It’s unclear when or even if user-pay will fly.
The take: Companies such as Transurban argue that charging drivers for their every move would make us all think twice about necessary versus discretionary travel, thereby easing congestion. But the take would be especially beneficial to such utility-like private operators, who envision perpetual profit in user-pay road pricing.