Commuter Rail

The number of rail commuters in British Columbia, Ontario and Quebec is 67 million annually, an increase of 46 per cent since 1999. Commuter rail is a major factor in reducing highway congestion, delays, accidents and pollution, and in preserving valuable land in urban areas.

Governments have begun to address the need for increased investment in public transit. The 2006 Federal Budget allocated $1.3 billion in support of public transit capital investments, including making $400 million available to provinces and territories and a further $900 million, over three years, into the Public Transit Capital Trust. Federal Budget 2008 set aside up to $500 million in 2007-08 (of which $300 was committed in the 2006 Federal Budget through the Public Transit Capital Trust) for public transit infrastructure. Further, in the 2008 Budget, the government announced that the Gas Tax Fund, which provides municipalities with funding for priories such as public transit, would become a permanent measure. The annual federal gas tax allocation to the Gas Tax Fund rose to $2 billion annually by 2009-10 from the level of $1 billion in 2008-2009.

In structuring any future arrangements under the Gas Tax Fund, these are two important requirements:

• Only road user fuel taxes should be part of these new federal-provincial agreements. Federal fuel taxes paid by freight railways should be devoted instead to furthering the development of rail-based intermodal transportation.

• Any portion of federal road user fuel taxes transferred to municipalities should be available to support commuter rail as well as road infrastructure. Transit and roads are parts of an interrelated system. Decisions regarding infrastructure investment should be able to be made on the basis of the benefits and costs of both roads and transit.

Congestion Charge Zones (CCZ), as implemented in London, England, are implemented to rationalize the use of road systems in major urban centers. Provincial governments could give authority to municipalities to implement CCZs. The funds raised through CCZs should be allocated to the urban transit systems in order to accommodate expected increased demand from those that choose to leave their car at home.