City wants light rail and tolls on new bridge
Montreal isn’t hesitating to speak up about its needs for the new Champlain bridge: light rail and tolls for motorists. One report says the city wants to impose tolls on all south shore bridges to raise more funds for public transit.
The new bridge rail system is envisioned to reach from downtown Montreal to DIX30.
Clément 12:14 on 2013/02/04 Permalink
I have an issue with the idea of imposing tolls on ALL south shore bridges. Why? They’re saying that if Champlain is the only toll bridge, then users will pick another bridge. That argument makes no sense, especially when you remember that for a long time, there was a toll on Champlain and it was the only toll bridge to the south shore. Back then, people were using it, why would it be any different today?
I’m not against the idea of imposing a toll on the new bridge to help pay for it, but we can’t “punish” all the south shore commuters. Short term, it might bring more money to the seemingly permanently empty coffers, but long term, more businesses will choose to move the south shore, creating yet more urban sprawl and turning Montreal into a doughnut.
On a lighter note, there’s is a certain irony in suggesting that the light rail connect downtown to Dix30, especially when Dix30 is always quoted as a symbol of the cause and/or effect of urban sprawl.