A White Paper On Reforming Canada’s Transportation Policies for the 21st Century (21 page pdf, Brian Flemming, SRR series, Vol. 5,Issue 18, School of Public Policy, University of Calgary, June 2010)
Also discussed here: Experts urge feds to charge road tolls, user fees to pay for infrastructure (Jordan Press, Postmedia News Jun. 6, 2012)
Today we look at a white paper aimed at creating discussion about the need for a new way to fund road infrastructure in Canada- something that has been partially paid for by gas taxes and short term stimulus funding. It points out that as fuel prices rise and electric car use increases that gas taxes are a declining source of revenue while road infrastructure will only continue to build, leaving a charge for road use as the best option. A focus by cities on this and some sort of agreement on how to proceed is needed.
Key Quotes:
“There is no question that convincing the Canadian public to accept a road tax, or any kind of infrastructure pricing, will be a phenomenally difficult political economic exercise, no matter how sensible that policy might appear to be in the minds of experts or transportation policy wonks”
“The need to charge user fees is being driven by the retreat of the federal government from stimulus spending as Ottawa attempts to get its fiscal house in order and cut the federal deficit over the coming three years"
"This means something far beyond mere traditional tolling of roads and bridges. It means creating a system whereby those who use infrastructure will electronically have to pay small and sophisticated fees or this use."
“If governments are not keen to introduce policies to prevent further climate change, the least they should do is to help economies and citizens adapt to climate change, particularly in the transport sector“
“Perhaps the mayors of Canada’s five or 10 largest cities should convene a meeting with only one issue on their agenda: who will pay for their infrastructure in the next decade and how can this best be done?”
“In 2005, 74% of Canadian adults reported going everywhere by car, up from 68% in 1992. In 2012, 82% of Canadians commuted to work by car, 12% took public transit, and 6% walked or cycled. Trips between cities are also mainly by car.”
“Fuel taxes are effective at targeting greenhouse gas emissions, but they are crude instruments for targeting congestion and other externalities that vary strongly with location, time of day and population density. Road pricing in some form is a much more flexible instrument.”
Related articles
- Transportation secretary: Tolls are road to Florida's transportation future (jacksonville.com)
- Congress should embrace public-private transportation projects (mysanantonio.com)
No comments:
Post a Comment