Doug Ford just banned tolls on all Ontario highways but the 407 and people are confused
A transportation announcement from the Government of Ontario had residents scratching their heads Thursday morning due to its inclusion of a ban on future highway tolls, which no one seemed to suspect was ever going to happen anyway.
The news came as part of the province’s changes to licence plate renewals, which will now be completely automated, and driver’s licence and photo card fees, which will stay frozen permanently.
Though these two updates are welcomed by drivers who will now save some extra time and money, those same drivers seem a little puzzled about the addition of the seemingly pointless veto on Ontario highway tolls, too.
He’s gaslighting us
— Lenny (@silo1981) February 15, 2024
“The Ontario government is keeping costs down for drivers by introducing legislation that would ban tolls on provincial highways,” a release on the subject reads.
“This would apply to the Don Valley Parkway and Gardiner Expressway once uploaded to the province, as well as the province’s 400-series highways,” continued the statement.
Though it also notes earlier tolls on Highway 412 and 418 that Ford axed in 2022, it does not mention any looming threat residents were facing as far as fees for freeway use.
What about 407? It’s the only one that really counts!
— Paul Proderick 🟧 (@proderick) February 15, 2024
While some online are now joking that Premier Doug Ford is “banning himself from doing things he would never do anyways,” others are chiming in to say that getting rid of existing tolls on the 407 — the majority of which is owned, operated and tolled privately as the 407 ETR — would have been a real news item to bother including.
Alas, tolls on that artery just went up on February 1, paid to the 407 ETR Concession, which comprises indirectly owned subsidiaries of the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, along with a number of foreign companies.
Contractual issues…they gave the tolls away in a sale.
— Mary Lou Tatton (@MLTspecialties) February 15, 2024
The outlawing of future tolls on Ontario highways, the permanent suspension of licence fees, and the streamlining of the licence plate renewal process are all wrapped in Ford’s Get It Done Act, which is heading to legislature next week.
If passed, they and the other parts of the bill will be implemented in the summer.
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