Car pool lanes are also a great idea, but never seem to get enforced. Just like bike lanes, streetcar tracks and crosswalks. Toronto motorists, the jackasses only, dominate and wreck everything. Just last night a dude in an SUV tried to drive through my livingroom and got angry with me when i got up to go take a leak.

Once again I have a problem with your poll. Disinterested doesn’t quite describe my feelings on this one, more of an undecided and untrusting vote.

As I have outlined on my own blog, I am forever driving back and forth between Toronto and Hamilton, making many stops in between. Until about a year ago, the 407 was off limits to me. Partly because of the costs it would incur, but also due to the Political shame it is to be paying a toll to some rich guy to use “his” road. I sat in traffic for hours and hours and hours and hours……………. A couple times, as much as I hate to admit it, this situation caused me to drift off and nearly ended up in a collision. I know, shame on me, but what can I do? It’s exhausting sitting in traffic in the sweltering heat.

A little over a year ago, we got fed up with this and decided to start taking the 407 once in a while. We ordered a transponder ($20 a year, saves you the video charges which actually work out to be about half of the cost per trip. Well worth it! Now that we take the 407 somewhat regularly, we are able to keep appointments with clients and just generally have more time to get actual work done.

Now, as far as the other highways go, they have built an HOV (high occupancy vehicle) or “car pool” lane on the 403 and have been in construction to do the same on the QEW. On the 403, it works great. If you can manage to ignore the single drivers who feel it is there “right as taxpayers” to use this lane, regardless of laws, and also seem to think that this lane is strictly for people wishing to travel at speeds of 140 km/h and above. On a whole traffic, which used to be terrible, speeds along smoothly and efficiently even in peak rush hour.

I am interested to see how this addition will help the QEW, a much busier highway. There is an awful lot of work being done to expand the road and I’ve heard some murmering about a toll being applied.

Now that I’ve babbled on, my point is this. If the QEW becomes more efficient with the addition of the HOV lane, and the tolls are required to pay for the work done, I have no problem paying this toll under a transponder based system. If, however, the highway is immediately sold to the highest bidder like the 407 was, I might buy a bigger vehicle and take out some camera towers!