andrewpmk
Senior Member
One problem I can see with tolling the 401 is traffic congestion on parallel routes, like York Mills/Wilson/Ellesmere and Sheppard. You would have to toll those as well, otherwise you would end up with congestion like Hwy 7 in York Region. It's probably best to just use GPS-based tolling and toll every road in the GTA, the technology exists now. Hopefully the tolls won't be nearly as high as the 407, at least during off peak times.
On the other hand, making the 401 useable during rush hour and toll revenue would allow for expanded GO bus service similar to the 407 express buses to York University. This would be a huge boon to commuters to North York Centre; commuters from Etobicoke, Mississauga, Brampton, Oakville, Scarborough, Pickering etc. would have much shorter commute times. Currently commuting to North York Centre is a major problem, because housing in good neighbourhoods near there is very expensive, the existing Sheppard subway is useless for most commuters who work there, and the York University express buses are useless because it takes 30 minutes to take the bus from Sheppard/Yonge to York University, so many workers in that area commute long distances in heavy traffic on the 401.