Steven Del Duca

6 / OGRA MILESTONES WINTER ISSUE OGRA MILESTONES WINTER ISSUE / 7

The end of one year and the beginning of another is usually a time for reflection on what has been accomplished and what still needs work. This is no different at the Ontario Ministry of Transportation. OGRA Policy Advisor Thomas Barakat chatted with Minister of Transportation Steven Del Duca about a number of different priorities and what municipalities can expect to see from MTO in 2016.

Barakat: You recently announced that a high occupancy toll (HOT) lane pilot program will begin on a portion of the QEW in the spring and if successful will be rolled out to other areas. What are your measures for success?

Del Duca: We did announce that we would have the QEW HOT lane pilot starting in the summer of 2016 on roughly a 16 km stretch of the QEW where there is an existing high occupancy vehicle (HOV) lane. As I said in my announcement, we’re not taking away any general purpose lanes on the QEW. It’s simply converting an HOV into an HOT. We’re going to use a monthly permitting system so there won’t be any transponders or electronics. Individuals can choose to pay a certain amount for one of the limited permits if they would like to participate in that pilot. What I’ve committed to is coming back in the spring to publicly announce how many permits would be available, what the process would be for purchasing or accessing those permits and what the costs would be. We’re still working on refining those details and we’ll report back on that in the spring. At the same time, I announced that the first fully electronically tolled HOT that we would have in the GTHA will be on Highway 427 from Highway

409 to Rutherford Road and that will be part of the Highway 427 extension project which will take the 427 from where it currently ends, up to Major Mackenzie Drive. That extension of the 427 as well as that HOT will be in service by 2021. By introducing the pilot on the

QEW, we’re giving motorists and residents a chance to get accustomed to what an HOT is like and giving a bit of an educational process for motorists who aren’t used to seeing this option. The Ministry will continue to analyze the data we see in terms of behavioural

modifications that result from the QEW HOT pilot project. This is very similar to what took place in the State of Utah between 2006 and 2010 with a similar permit process that they used before they introduced a fully electronic HOT system down there. We’re

Interaction with Ontario Minister of Transportation Steven Del DucaBy Thomas Barakat, Policy & Advocacy, Ontario Good Roads Association


going to keep analyzing just like we did in the aftermath of the Pan Am/Parapan Games in terms of how the HOVs we had in temporarily may have modified driver behaviour. We’re going to do the same thing with respect to the HOT pilot on the QEW, where we’re going to be encouraging people to take a look at this as an option not only cutting down their own commute time, but if enough vehicles come out of general purpose lanes and take advantage of the HOTs, then that also improves performance in the general purpose lanes which reduces the commute for everybody in the system. There is a quality of life benefit, and there is an economic output benefit as well.

Barakat: Your government has identified high-speed rail as a potential infrastructure investment opportunity. However, Via Rail CEO Yves Desjardins-Siciliano has argued against high-speed rail and has publicly stated that dedicated passenger rail tracks would deliver most of the benefits of high-speed rail at a fraction of the cost. How do you reconcile these different viewpoints?

Del Duca: In the 2014 provincial election campaign, we included in our platform and in discussions with communities and voters, a plan to advance the environmental assessment for the high-speed rail project that would run from Toronto ultimately to Windsor with stops in the

Waterloo region and in London. Last December, just over a year ago, I was in London with Deputy Premier Deb Matthews to announce that we were launching the environmental assessment (EA) as promised and as part of my mandate on this EA project. This is a project that MTO is leading, and we’ve done some work on it already and we’ll continue to work on it. We anticipate that the EA will take in the neighbourhood of 4-6 years to complete. At the same time, we announced that we’re appointing former federal Transport Minister David Collenette to be a special adviser on high-speed rail to our government, reporting to both myself and to Minister of Economic Development, Employment, and Infrastructure Brad

Duguid. Mr. Collenette is out there right now doing his work while working closely with MTO. It was important for us to try to run these processes in parallel as opposed to doing the EA then sequentially moving towards doing some additional work around business cases, feasibility, and financing models. So Mr. Collenette is working closely with MTO to run these processes in parallel. I’m aware that VIA has a vision for how it might want to expand, and I’m aware of the fact that that may be in the corridor around Eastern Ontario and that may also impact service in Southwestern Ontario. I’ve had the chance to meet with representatives from VIA and I’m sure we will continue to have conversations as well. I think ultimately what we all want to do is provide additional service and additional options that are viable for the people of Ontario and I think there are lots of opportunities for synergy and lots of opportunities for cooperation. But it was important for me to fulfill the mandate that was given to me by the Premier because that was the mandate she and our government were given by the people of Ontario.

interaction


Barakat: Can you provide an update on the Northern Ontario Multimodal Transportation Strategy?

Del Duca: I know there has been some work that has been undertaken in conjunction with a number of ministries on this particular issue. It’s of great importance to the government, to the Premier, and of course to the people of the North. Earlier in this interview I spoke about the importance of balancing both how we improve quality of life and how we ensure that our economy continues to grow and we’re incorporating that into this strategy. There is some work that has begun, but I don’t have much in terms of a tangible update other than to say there is a great deal of importance that is attached to this undertaking by the Premier and this government. I know I’ve had conversations with my colleagues in Northern Ontario and they’re eager to see us proceed with a plan that makes sense. Certainly

all of our municipal partners in the North are keen to see it as well, and my understanding is that the target completion of this strategy is fall 2017. So we’re going to keep working hard on this, we’re going to keep providing information to our partners and stakeholders on the process, and I hope to have an update on this in the new year.

Barakat: Ridesharing services such as Uber have become popular but its opponents argue that they aren’t playing by the same rules. Do you believe the Province has a role to play on this issue or should it be left to municipalities to sort out?

Del Duca: There is a debate that is ongoing at the municipal level with respect to what I’ll call the traditional taxi and limousine industry and how that is interacting with ride sharing companies like Uber as it relates to the requirements around licensing and how that entire system works. That is the jurisdiction of Ontario’s

municipalities and I would leave it to them as a mature level of government to sort through how to best handle the licensing component. I think at a higher level, not just as it relates to transportation, but as it relates to all aspects of the sharing economy, there is a fascinating discussion into what’s happening not just here in Ontario or here in Canada, but frankly globally, about how this aspect of our economy is here. Technology continues to disrupt a number of traditional sectors and industries. I don’t think it’s going to stop and I don’t think it should necessarily stop. There are tremendous benefits within the transportation realm to

what the potential might be with respect to technological disruptions. For example, not that many weeks ago, we announced that Ontario would be the first province that would go down the path towards a pilot that would permit the testing of automated vehicles on our roads and highways – that starts on January 1st, 2016. For those individuals and entities that have come forward and successfully completed the application to participate in the pilot and who are in a position to test their technology here in the Province of Ontario, I think there are going to be tremendous opportunities in the years to come. With respect to how we can take advantage of and harness all of what is being produced as a result of this fast-paced innovation, I think there is a role for government to play and I think we have to be careful across all industries and sectors to provide a degree of comfort, safety, and security to the public that we represent. At the same time, we have to be

I think the fact that we have a Prime Minister, federal

MPs, and a federal government that understand the

importance of partnerships, and the

importance of constructive dialogue and working

together is a very refreshing change.


interaction

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careful not to inadvertently inhibit the ingenuity and innovation much of which is based here in Ontario as it relates to growing our economy and improving the kind of products and services that are offered by traditional industries. I think there is a balance to be found there. However, as it relates specifically to transportation and the ride sharing phenomenon that’s kind of engulfing the globe, the licensing of taxis and limousines in Ontario is the responsibility of our municipal partners. I know some are grappling with it, some are working hard to find a solution that makes sense, and we will continue to monitor that situation. We have no plans to step in and directly take over the licensing of that industry.

Barakat: What impact will the new federal government in Ottawa have on the Ontario Ministry of Transportation and its plans and what can we expect to see from the Ministry in 2016?

Del Duca: I think the fact that we have a Prime Minister, federal MPs, and a federal government that understand the importance of partnerships, and the importance of constructive dialogue and working together is a very refreshing change. I’ve had the

opportunity now – and obviously I know a number of the new MPs representing Ontario in Ottawa – to meet directly with my federal counterpart, Transport Minister Marc Garneau. I was just in Windsor yesterday where he and I were quite proud to join together and officially commemorate and open the Rt. Hon. Herb Gray Parkway. I’ve met with Minister of Infrastructure and Communities Amarjeet Sohi, and I’ve had conversations with federal Finance Minister Bill Morneau as well. I know a lot of these people reasonably well and I’m getting to know some of them even better. I think what’s really heartening for us here in Ontario is to know that we will have a partner. It doesn’t mean that we’re going to agree 100% of the time, it doesn’t mean that every single project that we believe should have federal funding will have every single bit of federal funding that we’d like to necessarily see. I know here in Ontario when we talk to our municipal partners we can’t necessarily provide every single thing that’s on their list as well. But, the fact that we can have a constructive dialogue and that there will be new money invested specifically in transportation infrastructure is very encouraging. I look forward to being in a position to

continue working with the Ministers that I mentioned and all Ontario MPs across all party lines, not just Liberals. What the people we represent want to see is results. The results of the partnerships, the results of the funding, the results of the decision-making. So in transportation that means better public transit and better connections. It also means more roads and highways built in the right places and at the right time. It means making sure we maintain road and highway safety to the extent that we have over the last thirteen years. It means all of those things and so much more. Sometimes we forget that

people out there in our communities care less about who deserves the so-called credit and more about how they can see all levels of government, all the people they elected working together to provide creative solutions that will make their lives better, that will make the lives of their children and grandchildren better. That is what we are focused on here at Queen’s Park under the leadership of Premier Wynne. It is very encouraging to know that Prime Minister Trudeau and his cabinet and caucus feel the exact same way. So I look forward to working closely with them in 2016 and beyond.

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Steven Del Duca

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