Highway 407

Jim L

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Mar 2, 2009
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The 407 is back in the news.


I have written to my MP, the Minister of Transportation and to Ontario Parliament on a number of occasions requesting that heavy commercial vehicles should be able to travel from a 400 series highway to a 400 series highway for free or at a greatly reduced rate.

The reality is that the majority of commercial traffic is along the 407 corridor, Brampton, Woodhill, Vaughan, Concord, Richmond Hill, Markham etc. This area also is home to the majority of GTA based trucking companies where these trucks begin and end their trips. The exorbitant cost is so prohibitive that all trucks travel many kilometers out of route, sit in traffic, and congest other routes. To elaborate, a simple trip from the 404 Concord to the 410 Brampton costs over $54 one way. This truck will travel all the way down to the 404 to the 401 and back up the 410 and we all know how congested these 400 series highways are. The other option is to take Highway 7 or Steeles which comes with its own issues and snarls. Hands down the $54 is just way too cost prohibitive to even come close to justifying taking it.

The government advocates limiting idling, lowering congestion which leads to greenhouse gas and environmental concerns, but this is one area where they can greatly help out. Let’s get more commercial traffic on the 407 and diminish the headaches, unnecessary congestion, extra driving and problems on our other area roads. It wouldn’t be very hard at all; any trips that go from a 400 series to a 400 series highway on a commercial vehicle transponder just gets sent to the government.

It would be a win all the way around!
 
Send letters to your MPP. Maybe with a bunch of other letters and the request from Clarington the government will at least talk about it.
 
Reducing the charges for 407 usage for all vehicles would go a long way to reducing congestion on the other 400 series highways. I travel on the 407 quite a bit and at many times of the day there is next to no traffic at all, yet just to the south, the 401 is at a standstill. Having a new, well designed highway being underused to this extent is crazy.
 
The weird part is there's no economies of scale where the further you drive, the lower your km rate should be. Plus if you're coming across on the provincially-owned part of the 407, the per km rate is lower. You shouldn't pay 0.44/km or more. Example: from Brock Rd to QEW in Burlington, it's 100 km. Even with a transponder, you don't get a much of a break (just no camera charge). For a multiaxle vehicle, it's $141.40 between 9:30am-10am. The fee is insane.
 
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The weird part is there's no economies of scale where the further you drive, the lower your km rate should be. Plus if you're coming across on the provincially-owned part of the 407, the per km rate is lower. You shouldn't pay 0.44/km or more. Example: from Brock Rd to QEW in Burlington, it's 100 km. Even with a transponder, you don't get a much of a break (just no camera charge). For a multiaxle vehicle, it's $141.40 between 9:30am-10am. The fee is insane.
thank Harris for that one

CBC News · Posted: Apr 14, 1999 3:03 AM EDT | Last Updated: April 14, 1999
The Tory government has sold highway 407 for $3.1 billion dollars.
The sale of the electronic toll road that runs just north of Toronto is being called the biggest privatization deal ever made in North America.
A Quebec-based engineering firm and a Spanish partner are paying more than $3 billion for the continent's longest electronic toll road. That's twice the amount the government invested in the highway - meaning the Tories have made a $1.5 billion dollar profit by privatizing a project started by Bob Rae's NDP government.
Originally the 407 was to pay for itself and become a free public highway in approximately 30 years. The Tory government passed a law allowing the government to sell it off.
The conditions of the sale allow the new owners to set whatever toll rates it wants for the next 99 years.
 
Pretty sure I remember my father saying that there was a provincial deduction on his paycheck WAYYYY back in the day when it was under construction to fund it. Then they sell it and charge us to use it.
 
I think this would be great idea and would reduce some of the traffic issues as traffic jam ups are the worst
 
Does anyone have a current written policy for drivers to use or not use the 407 at their company, that they are willing to share. Exploring options as cost is extreme but benefit of time and safety in current traffic away from the 407 may just out weigh this. Any thoughts would be appreciated
 
First thing to do is to have a Transponder in each truck in the fleet regardless of the trips the truck is doing on 407. We have transponders on all trucks- local, QC, and US trucks. The ONLY and Simple policy is that ALL drivers must call and have written permission in their group chat box from dispatch before jumping on 407. We all know it's a time saver, we run from Missi to Pickering throughout the day and we know how much time we save using it. We analyze the need of using 407 in real time and make decisions right away. Hourly drivers don't really care when sitting in traffic in comparison to CPM drivers. so one has to think from both sides and make efficient decisions accordingly. I know the cost is high but I also know Time is money.
 
First thing to do is to have a Transponder in each truck in the fleet regardless of the trips the truck is doing on 407. We have transponders on all trucks- local, QC, and US trucks. The ONLY and Simple policy is that ALL drivers must call and have written permission in their group chat box from dispatch before jumping on 407. We all know it's a time saver, we run from Missi to Pickering throughout the day and we know how much time we save using it. We analyze the need of using 407 in real time and make decisions right away. Hourly drivers don't really care when sitting in traffic in comparison to CPM drivers. so one has to think from both sides and make efficient decisions accordingly. I know the cost is high but I also know Time is money.
Thanks for your input YYZRIDER
 
The 407 is back in the news.


I have written to my MP, the Minister of Transportation and to Ontario Parliament on a number of occasions requesting that heavy commercial vehicles should be able to travel from a 400 series highway to a 400 series highway for free or at a greatly reduced rate.

The reality is that the majority of commercial traffic is along the 407 corridor, Brampton, Woodhill, Vaughan, Concord, Richmond Hill, Markham etc. This area also is home to the majority of GTA based trucking companies where these trucks begin and end their trips. The exorbitant cost is so prohibitive that all trucks travel many kilometers out of route, sit in traffic, and congest other routes. To elaborate, a simple trip from the 404 Concord to the 410 Brampton costs over $54 one way. This truck will travel all the way down to the 404 to the 401 and back up the 410 and we all know how congested these 400 series highways are. The other option is to take Highway 7 or Steeles which comes with its own issues and snarls. Hands down the $54 is just way too cost prohibitive to even come close to justifying taking it.

The government advocates limiting idling, lowering congestion which leads to greenhouse gas and environmental concerns, but this is one area where they can greatly help out. Let’s get more commercial traffic on the 407 and diminish the headaches, unnecessary congestion, extra driving and problems on our other area roads. It wouldn’t be very hard at all; any trips that go from a 400 series to a 400 series highway on a commercial vehicle transponder just gets sent to the government.

It would be a win all the way around!
Love it!
 
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