This week the Toronto Region Board of Trade stirred the pot by suggesting that Torontonians start paying taxes to pay for the $50 billion regional transit expansion. While the proposed solution would save the City some very valuable dollars, it also places the burden onto the shoulders of Toronto taxpayers – even those that don’t use the transit system. And according to a new poll by Forum Research, over half of those in the city don’t want to do it.

The taxes proposed by the Board are many. They include a $1 tax on parking spaces, more taxes placed on gas that would equal another 10 cents a litre, as well as a highway toll of 30 cents for every kilometre for individual drivers that want to use high-occupancy lanes.

The rationalization for asking drivers to help pay for the transit expansion is that it would help get cars off the road – still benefiting those that will still be on the roadways and highways if and when the expansion is complete.

But the Forum president, Lorne Bozinoff, isn’t convinced; and he’s not certain Toronto drivers are either.

“I think the specific benefits need to be better defined – what exactly do we get for these levies?” he asked, speaking on behalf of the Torontonians who answered his survey.

“This is mainly a tax on drivers to pay for public transit without convincing drivers that this plan would get cars off the road,” he continued.

Those comments come on the heels of his study that showed most drivers aren’t in favour of the tax. And in fact, the majority of Torontonians aren’t in favour of it.

According to the survey, only 36 per cent of transit users said that they agreed with such a tax; while only 23 per cent of drivers did.

However, that changes the further you get away from the heart of the city. Only 23 per cent of those who live in North York, Scarborough, and Etobicoke agreed with the tax; while 45 per cent of those who live in East York and the downtown core agreed with it.

The Star hit the streets to ask Torontonians directly how they feel and while some are just fed up, others have better ways to get people and their cars off the road – the ultimate reason for all of this discussion, anyway.

“I pay enough as it is,” said Jayson Coffield, who commutes from Burlington every day. “I struggle with how pathetic the subway system is in Toronto compared with other major cities. If you look at other systems, there’s more routes, less dependency on streetcars.”

But Steve Kee, who lives in Whitby and takes the GO train every day, says that the real problem lies in how expensive it is to take transit now. And that the solution is to tax those who choose to clog up the roads, and give a break to those that are willing to bus, train, or subway it to work.

“The whole idea of public transit is to take some pressure off driving, so you do one of two things: You either make the tolls so high that you don’t want to drive and you have to take transit. (Or) maybe you could reduce transit costs to encourage people not to take their cars,” he said.

What do you think about the Toronto transit tax? Do all Torontonians need to pay for a system that will be throughout the entire city? Or should only one group bear the brunt of the cost of the new transit system – whether that be drivers or transit-takers?