Reduce congestion by giving commuters better transportation choices
- Bust gridlock with a commuter benefits package of ride-sharing programs and incentives, more high-occupancy vehicle lanes, express pay lanes, pay-as-you-drive insurance, flex work incentives, van pools and other services.
- Keep transit fares affordable by closing the gas tax gap on the provincial share of transit operating costs.
- Keep energy dollars in Ontario by implementing the funding mechanisms identified by Metrolinx for the Big Move transit expansion plan instead of sending money out of province to pay for imported oil.
There is nothing more frustrating than sitting in gridlock when you have to be somewhere. But with some of the worst traffic congestion in North America, that’s a daily reality for many people in Southern Ontario. We need to find ways to use our roads more efficiently with greater use of high occupancy vehicle lanes, ride sharing programs and incentives, tele-commuting and flex work options, and perhaps even express toll lanes.
We also have to give commuters better transit options with convenient reliable transit that serves the greatest number of communities and commuters at the most reasonable cost – while providing the greatest pollution reduction. To make transit work, the provincial government must share the cost of operating transit systems that are increasingly the lifelines of our cities. We can’t keep paving over prime farmland and destroying our few remaining natural areas to build more highways – we need to find better ways to move people and take the stress out of their daily commute.