More details on toll lanes by end of 2015, Ontario government says

Ontario motorists will know by the end of the yearexactly where the Liberal government intends to establish
high-occupancy toll lanes and what the fees will be for using them.

The so-called HOT lanes will allow motorists without passengersto pay to use High-Occupancy-Vehicle (HOV) lanes, which weredesigned to encourage carpooling.

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The plan is to create HOT lanes only where there area existingHOV lanes, which are free for any driver with at least onepassenger, but HOV and toll lanes could also be created on any newor expanded highways.

"On the provincial highway network, we will not be taking outgeneral purpose lanes for the HOT's," Transportation MinisterSteven Del Duca saidMonday.

The government will create HOV lanes when it expands Highway 401in the Cambridge area, but hasn't yet determined if that stretchwill also get HOT lanes.

Del Duca wants to use lessons learned from the temporary HOVlanes set up on Toronto-area highways last summer for the Pan AmGames to develop the new HOT-lane plan.

He downplayed police reports showing accidents during the Gameson Toronto-area highways with HOV lanes jumped 73 per cent comparedwith the same July-August period in each of the previous four years.

Frankly, we shouldn't be taxing existing roadways.People have paid for those roads throughtheir taxes, and that shouldn't be an option that the governmentlooks at.Ontario PC Leader Patrick Brown

"HOV lanes don't cause accidents," said Del Duca, blaming thespike in collisions on "motorists who aren't paying attention tothe conditions of the road."

The Progressive Conservatives said adding tolls to existinghighways is a bad idea, and accused the Liberals of being too quickto consider new fees and taxes to solve their problems.

"Frankly, we shouldn't be taxing existing roadways," said PCLeader Patrick Brown. "People have paid for those roads throughtheir taxes, and that shouldn't be an option that the governmentlooks at."

'Lexus lanes' not the way to go: NDP

The New Democrats branded HOT lanes with the name of a high-endcarmaker, and said only the wealthiest motorists can afford to payextra to drive in a lane meant for people who carpool.

"The Lexus lanes are not something I think is the right way togo," said NDP Leader Andrea Horwath. "The people of this provincehave been clear that they are not looking favourably on having theirroads tolled."

A report releasedMondayby Canada's Ecofiscal Commission, acoalition of economists, endorsed the idea of toll roads and"congestion fees" to help cities and provinces deal with trafficproblems.

"Converting existing carpool lanes into HOT lanes or buildingnew HOT-lane capacity on the provincially owned 400-series ofhighways could be a practical approach for reducing congestion inthe broader area," concluded the report.

Del Duca said the province was willing to work with anymunicipality that wants to add tolls to existing roads under their
jurisdiction, such as Toronto's Gardiner Expressway and Don ValleyParkway.

"I haven't had a municipality come to me and ask the question,"said Del Duca. "My focus is the provincial highway network, andthat's what I'm doing."