New 407 East tolls will be lower than ETR prices

Rush-hour driving will be nearly 6 cents cheaper per km on government-run toll road, but difference will shrink at other times.

Thestar.com
Dec. 14, 2015
By Tess Kalinowski

The new publicly owned Highway 407 East will cost rush-hour motorists nearly six cents less per kilometre in some busy periods than the existing 407 ETR tolls.

At other times, however, the price difference will be only a fraction of a penny per kilometre less on the publicly owned section of highway.

The province has promised to keep its 407 tolls below the ETR rates when the new stretch opens next spring between Brock Rd. in Pickering and Harmony Rd. in Oshawa.

The proposed prices for the new highway range from 19 cents per km to 29 cents per kilometre, according to the Ministry of Transportation website.

The existing, privately-run 407 ETR charges between roughly 20 cents and 35 cents per kilometre in the regular zone. The 407 light zone - a stretch from Highway 410 to Highway 427 - ranges from about 20 cents to 33 cents per kilometre.

The most significant price difference comes in the weekday rush hours, when the roads are most heavily travelled. Drivers will pay about a nickel less per kilometre on the provincial section than on the privately operated ETR.

While large trucks and buses are tolled nearly twice as much by the province, they are given commensurate savings - about a dime per kilometre less than some periods on the privately run highway.

"Heavier vehicles add significantly more to the costs of highway maintenance and repair than their lighter counterparts. This is why commercial vehicle rates are set at two or three times the light vehicle rates respectively," said the ministry.

"As part of our commitment, tolls drivers will pay to drive along the new 407 East will be lower than the 407 ETR and the revenue will be reinvested into the province's services and critical infrastructure," Transportation Minister Steven Del Duca said in a statement from his staff.

Earlier this month, the government announced that the highway, which was supposed to open on Friday, wasn't finished due to delays in early design work and because remaining pavement markings and asphalt work couldn't be done in the winter.

Highway 407 ETR was built by the province but leased to a private Canadian-Spanish consortium, which collects the tolls. It runs from about Brock Rd. in Pickering west down to the QEW in Burlington.

Toll comparison

29: Cents per km to drive the provincially owned 407 East on a weekday between 4 p.m. and 6 p.m.

34.73: Cents per km to drive the privately operated 407 ETR in the regular zone, weekdays between 4 p.m. and 6 p.m.

19: Cents per km to drive the 407 East weekdays between 7 p.m. and 6 a.m.

19.74: Cents per km to drive the 407 ETR weekdays between 7 p.m. and 6 a.m. in both the regular and light zones