We have the science, if not the spine
We need to stop caving to the best-funded voices and realize long-term change has to be planned for, funded, and supported. Doesn’t anyone give a damn what happens after their time in office? Legacy used to mean something.
“Congestion pricing puts a cost on road use during peak demand and helps manage finite road capacity, transforming roads from a “free” public resource into one that reflects their true value.” It doesn’t have to be the entire solution, but it’s very obviously part of a successful one. Municipalities that continually put resources for individual cars above the needs of all their citizens are failing those citizens. Premier Ford needs to revisit his decision.
How much consulting will it take before we simply do the right thing?
The Park and Pray: pull up to the Arrivals curb and camp out until you get kicked out. You will get kicked out. Some do the wait-at-Departures-instead trick. You get more grace time, but they’ll still kick you out.
The Slow Loop: slow, patient drive-bys in the train of other vehicles doing the same thing, clogging those vehicles who are actually trying to leave by plugging them in with people who desperately hope this loop will be the last. Pollute as you go.
The Herd Cuddle: tuck your car into the long lines of fellow waiters illegally (and often dangerously) lining the highways leading into the airport. This has been happening for years, and everybody plays the old Bear and Hiker game: you only have to be out of there faster than the person behind you when they come to kick you out. Vehicles shelter — and pollute — together, willing to roll the dice on just how many will get ticketed.
In 2018, the airport’s private parking service, Indigo, announced they’d be mailing illegal parkers a $75 ticket; little changed. A few months ago, I noticed signs warning that the most abused areas are now covered in cameras. Haven’t seen anyone parked on the shoulders in four visits. People are quite capable of change.
There are many knowledgeable people on the Toronto Board of Trade’s Congestion Task Force. Let’s hope they are direct in explaining what it will take to tackle the absolutely unacceptable state of the GTA’s roadways, and let’s hope those tasked to implement it have the spine to do so.
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