407 toll highway saves GTHA residents 26 minutes on commute: study

Commuters in the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area (GTHA) who use the Highway 407 Express Toll Route (ETR) save an average of 26 minutes a day on their commute, according to a new report by the Conference Board of Canada.

In its Travel Time and Reliability: An Analysis of Commuting on 407 ETR report, the agency said people are willing to pay for road use if they see the benefits.

“Commuters are willing to pay direct charges for road use if they perceive benefits,” Vijay Gill, director of policy research at the Conference Board of Canada said in a release Tuesday.

“The 407 ETR experience seems to indicate that if direct charges lead to significantly better service for users who pay the direct charges, the reluctance to pay tolls dissipates.”

According to the study, workers in the GTHA experience the longest average commute times in Canada, at 66 minutes per day — 33 minutes one way.

It also found that nearly 30 per cent of these workers have commutes of 90 minutes per day — 45 minutes or more one way.

Three data sources were used as basis for the survey: aggregated Global Positioning System (GPS), cellular networks and volunteer motorists with logger units placed in their vehicles.

The 108-kilometre 407 ETR is the world’s first all-electronic open access toll highway.

What other GHTA highways should have tolls? Share your thoughts in the comments.

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