Mayor Says No! Ashton Says They Won't Work.

Bottom line is that based on the decision making of Miller's leftwing cadre you will see some form of anti-automobile fee put into place. It won't be called a congestion fee but is will be a way to hit the motorist and to increase revenue. Personally I still favor the idea of shutting down underground parking in the downtown core starting with the City Hall parking complex and I would make a deduction from the salary of all city employees, union and non-union, for parking on city owned property.

Toronto councillor not sold on London's congestion fees
Toronto unlikely to adopt congestion tax, says councillor
March 03, 2007
Jim Byers
CITY HALL BUREAU CHIEF

If congestion fees ever come to the city of Toronto, it won't be a pretty sight.

"There will be headlights shining out of my butt before we ever see congestion charges in Toronto," Councillor Brian Ashton told the Toronto Star.

Ashton, who heads city council's planning and growth management committee, recently spent three days in London, England, where the city has imposed heavy fees on drivers entering the central city.

Ashton, a member of the newly created Greater Toronto Transportation Authority, said in an interview last week the agency would be foolish not to consider the same kind of congestion fees for Toronto. But after checking the situation firsthand, he said he doesn't think the program would work in Toronto.

Ashton (Ward 36, Scarborough Southwest), said London brought in the fees – now about $20 per vehicle – to clear up traffic snarls downtown and not as a tool to encourage public transit and thus battle climate change, which is what many supporters in Toronto have cited as a reason to look at the idea.

"In London, they had so much congestion that buses and taxis and even emergency vehicles in the centre of the city couldn't move."