An Ontario woman is speaking up after getting hit with a massive bill for using Highway 407 to get to work. In just one month, the total came to more than $1,700.
Tasha Coates, who lives in Georgetown, relies on the toll highway for her daily commute to work. She travels to Richmond Hill five days a week.
When her February bill came in, she was shocked to see it totaled about $1,760.
Discounts and promotions helped bring the amount down to around $1,200, but it was still a huge amount.
In an interview, she said that skipping the toll road isn’t really an option for her. Without it, her commute would stretch to roughly four hours a day. She said before, her monthly costs used to be around $1,200. In recent months, however, they have recently climbed much higher.
Earlier this year, toll rates went up on some of the busiest parts of the highway, with increases of up to 34 cents per kilometre for light vehicles.
The company behind the highway had previously said most regular drivers would only see a small bump in their monthly costs, but that hasn’t been her experience.
Because she’s often driving during peak traffic times, the cost can spike to around $1 per kilometre.
For her, that works out to about $50 each way, or $100 a day just to get to and from work.
Traffic on the free routes is bad enough that avoiding the toll road would add at least two extra hours to her day, which is why she keeps using it despite the cost.
She’s been using the promotions offered by the highway, and they’ve definitely helped. In just a few months, they have saved her hundreds of dollars. Even with the discounts, however, she still feels the regular price is just way too high.
The company that runs the highway says toll rates are reviewed once a year and are designed to balance traffic flow while offering a faster, more reliable drive.
They also pointed out that frequent users like her often benefit the most from discounts, and in her case, those savings have added up to a significant percentage over time.
Meanwhile, the Ontario government already removed tolls from the publicly owned eastern stretch of the 407 last year, which has helped some drivers save money.
Coates believes people using the privately operated western portion could use similar relief.
She feels many families are dealing with the same issue and avoid the highway altogether because of the high costs.
For now, the 407 ETR continues to promote its discount programs, including options aimed at lower-income drivers that can offer a limited number of free trips each month.
