Why isn’t business contributing?

Re Leadership or denial, Editorial, March 20 So, that was a “bold” proposal from the Toronto Region Board of Trade? Well, if by boldness the Star means “unmitigated gall,” then I agree. Oh sure, have others pay, but where is the suggestion of even the slightest contribution from business? Their own trucks (read “warehouses”) add greatly to gridlock, and their rush to set up shop in the suburbs, with no notion of overall traffic planning, has created chaos there. Their demands for tax breaks have left government too broke to do what’s needed. How’s this for “bold,” Board of Trade: an increase in corporate taxes of even half a percentage point or a separate tax to fund transit and infrastructure, of which businesses are major beneficiaries. How about a toll on trucks, to be doubled or even quadrupled in gridlock-prone areas during morning and evening rush hours? How about confining trucks strictly to the right-hand lane during rush hours? How about designating suburban employment hubs, much like the hub system used by airlines? The TTC and regional transit systems would deliver workers to those hubs, and it would be up to the businesses themselves, by law, to take them directly to and from the workplace. Bigger employers could have their own shuttle buses, and smaller ones could band together to serve, for example, an industrial park.

Tolls and gas taxes hit everyone in the wallet, but it is only the poor people, desperate not only for money but also for time, who would actually be forced out of their cars. The company executives in the Board of Trade obviously see themselves remaining behind the wheel — in both senses. They appear to see nothing outrageous about claiming the quarterback role on the gridlock issue, while delegating all the sacrifices to others. J.A. McFarlane,