Toronto Mayoral Candidate Sarah Thomson Looking to Toll Torontonians into Oblivion...

Yes, Sarah "The Toll Booth" Thomson is looking to add road tolls on the Gardiner and the DVP if she's elected the next Mayor of Toronto. But, she's not looking to hit users for $1 each way, she's looking to hit them for $5 each way! $10 a day to drive on the DVP and the Gardiner??? She must be crazy!! And the last thing that this city needs is a Mayor who is looking to increase the amount of money Torontonians have to pay to live and work in this city.

Let's see what that works out to..

52 weeks a year x 5 days a week x $10 per day = $2600 per year minimum added onto the already heavy tax burden that Torontonians carry... And that's only if you use the DVP and Gardiner on weekdays... This doesn't include using it on the weekends. This doesn't include those random trips around town to pick something or someone up.. At the end of the day, this could end up costing far far more than $2600... And I'm sure that's exactly what Thomson is counting on..

Maybe Mrs. Thomson should ask herself where Torontonians are suppose to come up with an extra $2600 per year (at least)? Maybe they should stop buying clothes for their children? Or maybe they should stop sending their children for skating classes, or swimming lessons, or summer camps, or ice hockey teams?... Or maybe they should just stop feeding their children all together for Mrs. Thomson... Is that what she's looking for from Torontonians?

What??  It's a fair question..

Where is this money suppose to come from? The majority of us are already worried about where the extra money for the HST is suppose to come from... We're already worried about the rising Property Taxes and User fees.. We're already worried about the skyrocketing hydro costs due to those smart meters... But hey, how would Mrs. Thomson - who lives in a magic fairy land where cost increases have no significance - understand how the typical Torontonian feels? How would she know about the everyday struggle that the majority of Torontonians have to go through to survive?

I'm sorry, but I'm tired of these rich-ass politicians thinking that they understand the mentality of the average Joe Torontonian, and then coming in and raising taxes and making lives so much harder for us...

Back to the Tolls...

Here's the story from the Toronto Star:  James: Bold transit vision based on $5 road tolls

Now, I'm not completely against Road Tolls to help the City of Toronto... I'm just against Torontonians having to pay even more to use roads that we already pay a fortune for..

If you want to implement Road Tolls, it shouldn't be on Torontonians, it should be on everyone else who comes into Toronto and uses our roads and services for free. Put tolls at the borders of the city, and hit Toronto Outsiders for $1 each way every day. That way people who work in Toronto, but live and pay taxes outside of Toronto, can contribute to this great city that is providing a living for them.

Now, I know that every single person who drives into the city every day is going to be pissed at my suggestion, but I'm ready to accept that anger. What I'm suggesting is only fair. You can all be mad about it, but you know I'm right.

- THE PLAN -

Thomson's plan for this increased revenue from the Tolls is an over-ambitious and somewhat naive goal for an expanded TTC Subway system that would run on Eglinton from Kingston Rd to the Airport. Also, she is looking to add a line from Pape to Dundas, expand the Yonge and University lines up to Steeles, and to finish the Sheppard line up to Scarborough Town Centre.

A very nice plan for a person who lives in that magic fairy land where everything that's ideal is possible... But imagine the size that this undertaking would amount to, and consider whether the TTC and the City could truly handle Managing a project like that.

I mean, do I have to point out all of the failures of the TTC and the City when it comes to major developments? The countless millions of dollars lost due to incompetence and uselessness, not to mention corruption and negligence... And Sarah wants to throw a minimum of $14 Billion at these same folks? Just look at the St. Clair streetcar right-of-way fiasco... And that's barely a percentage of what this would cost.

No, I don't think so Mrs. Thomson! I'm not going to let you absolutely destroy what's left of Toronto with your stupid ideas and moronic dreams.

And I love this part of her plan:

She’d end the tolls as soon as the subways are built and guarantee the money goes to transit only.

Ha ha ha!! Promises to end the tolls as soon as the subways are built, eh? Guarantee that the money goes to transit only, eh? She really thinks that we Torontonians are idiots... As if we don't remember every other politician who brought in new and increased taxes as temporary measures, only to never remove them as promised. Yeah, and then other political parties get elected in based on the platform that they will remove the tax, only to further increase it once they get in.

No, I see this $10 road toll sticking around in Toronto forever.. I see Torontonians ceasing to use the DVP and Gardiner (because they can't afford to), and traffic on Don Mills, Leslie and Vic Park, not to menion on Lakeshore, Queens Quay, Wellington and King all skyrocketing... Traffic no longer moving anywhere in this city. The city losing millions in projected revenue from the tolls, and also in new maintenance costs on all of the roads parallel to the highways.

All I see is chaos in an already troubled city, if Sarah Thomson is elected Mayor.

Let's hope that Torontonians see that as well.

--jackandcokewithalime

PS: I was already pissed at this BS anti-car mentality in Toronto from our supposed leaders and candidates for future leaders... But this just takes it to another level.  The Driver already pays a fortune to this city, and gets nothing in return. Increased Licensing Fees, increased Insurance Rates in Toronto, increased Gas prices and taxes, increased fines for useless traffic tickets, skyrocketing parking costs and the list goes on and on and on. And what do the drivers get for all of this? Nothing. No, scratch that. We get to pay for reduced lanes on streets for Cyclists who get to ride on the roads for free, and let's not pretend that they aren't already a menace on traffic..

And now, drivers get to pay a minimum of $10 a day on top of everything, so that transit users can have an increased subway???? Why should people who don't use something, have to pay for that something to get an enhancement?? How does that make sense?? That's like us Torontonians paying for a new bridge in Detroit.. It's a nice gesture, but how does that make sense? Oh, you're saying that if they increased the subways, there would be less drivers on the road (as they would be using transit), and therefore there would be a benefit to the drivers... Really? Can't drivers park at Subway Stations right now and ride the rocket? Oh, they can.. Really? Yet they choose not to.. And that's going to change if there is an increase in subway stations?? Yeah, get real. Why don't you ask the TTC users to increase their tickets from $3 to $8? They're the ones who use it.. Oh, a travesty you say? Really? Idiots...


(Image:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/joebenbram/4353252537/sizes/o/ by Joey Schwartz on flickr
Copyright: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/)