Public can speak up about fees for use of city thoroughfares
Edmonton began the toll-road debate Friday, saying congestion is caused by drivers getting subsidized and limitless access to the road network.
Should there be a fee? Should Edmonton charge a toll for road use? “Is levying user fees on transit users but not roadway users justified if both derive clear private benefits?” asks a new discussion paper, which proposes a set of policy statements to guide how Edmonton sets future user fee.
The discussion goes to a public hearing April 12. It’s available at edmonton.ca/TheWayWeFinance.
“If you tax roads, you wouldn’t necessarily have to subsidize buses,” said Todd Burge, Edmonton’s chief financial officer. He said the example is mostly meant to spark debate. It would be difficult to set up traditional toll roads on Edmonton’s current road network because there are so many ways to get from A to B. “We already have short-cutting issues,” he said.
“It may not be (a user fee) we’ll ever implement here. But who knows where the future might be.”
Edmonton’s discussion paper calls municipal roadway infrastructure a “perfect example” of government oversupply. Because there is no cost to use them, roads are heavily used, which means there is more scarce government dollars going to build and maintain them than can be justified based on their benefits.
In contrast, transit users pay fares worth $120 million, roughly a third of the annual cost of transit. The discussion paper estimates the city gets $700 million in benefit annually from reduced congestion, reduced collisions, decreased parking requirements and improved environmental impacts.
At a Postmedia editorial board meeting March 18, Mayor Don Iveson said council has never debated user fees for roads. He supports having people pay to use what they benefit from, but “that said, you need to do it across the region … consistently around the province. I think that’s why Edmonton has never looked at it. Because if the neighbours aren’t also doing it, that could put you at a competitive disadvantage.
“You would need at minimum a regional consensus around that or a provincial directive. I think that’s some ways off.”
Coun. Scott McKeen said licence-plate cameras on roads like Terwillegar Drive, Sher- wood Park Freeway or Beverly bridge could track drivers from outside Edmonton, charging regional municipalities their share for upgrades and maintenance.
“It would be good to have a discussion with the Capital Region Board on that,” he said.
As for charging drivers within Edmonton, “that would be extremely controversial,” he said. “This council already has a reputation of being anti-car.”
Edmonton residents are willing to pay when they see direct benefits, like with the neighbourhood renewal levy, he said. Maybe they would support user fees for roads if it was directly linked to a significant drop in property taxes.
“That’s an interesting question.”