The Ontario Trucking Association (OTA) said this week that diesel fuel taxes and driver/vehicle registration fees paid by the trucking industry should not be used to fund the Metrolinx transit plan for the Greater Toronto and Hamilton area (GTHA).
Instead, those fees should be allocated towards fixing and expanding Ontario's roads, highways and bridges, the association said.
"This is a fundamental issue for us," OTA President David Bradley said. "Unlike motorists, truckers do not have the choice to take transit. Why should they be expected to pay for infrastructure they do not use and for which any benefit in terms of reduced roadway and highway congestion is at best speculative."
The Metrolinx plan recommends a regional tack-on of 5 cents per litre to the provincial diesel fuel tax. If the government were to go ahead with that tax, the trucking industry would carry a higher burden than any other business sector, Bradley said.
"It must be understood that trucking is a hyper-competitive industry where companies compete on pennies per mile. A regional diesel fuel tax would put trucking companies based in the GTHA at a competitive disadvantage with carriers from outside the region."
A Transit Investment Strategy Panel was recently established by Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne to further examine the Metrolinx recommendations and other options to fund public transit. The panels' findings are expected to be reported to the government before the end of this year.
Bradley said that the association understands that traffic congestion in the GTHA is a significant problem and that they do see the need for measures that will improve the flow of goods and people into and out of the province.
"But the Metrolinx plan is exclusively focused on regional transit and in our view it is essential that a network/province wide perspective be considered."
Recent developments regarding the Ontario government's spending of tax dollars are also cause for concern, Bradley noted.
"Too often tax and fee increases have been justified on various grounds, including transportation infrastructure improvements, only to have the money go into the black hole of the general revenue fund where it can be spent on virtually anything," he said.
"Taxpayers want government to be transparent. They want to see a return on their investment. They want value for money. They want governments to come up with reasonable plans and to see them through. Why should they believe things will be different this time?"
