- What is the National Highway System?
- Why does Canada need a National Highway Policy?
- What is the federal gasoline excise tax used for?
- Where does money to fund the improvement of roads come from?
- How do road repairs help the environment?
- What causes traffic congestion?
- How does congestion affect the environment?
- What is smog?
- Why is repairing roads beneficial to my health?
- What about the New Deal for Cities and Communities?
What is the National Highway System?
The National Highway System is a network of freeways, multi-lane arterials, two-lane paved highways, and two-lane gravel highways. It accounts for approximately 4.2 per cent of Canada’s 900,000 kilometres in roads that extend from Newfoundland to British Columbia and up through the territories. It is the backbone of Canada's transportation system and the number one mover of people, goods and services in Canada.
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Why does Canada need a National Highway Policy?
With 21 million licenced drivers, and given our country's geographical expanse, Canadians rely heavily on personal vehicles to transport themselves and their families. In fact, not only individual Canadians, but also tourists and industries are relying more and more on roads to transport themselves and their goods. As such, establishing a national highways policy that incorporates strategically planned improvements and expansions would serve to meet regional and national needs. Recommended funding provisions included in the policy would recognize the economic importance to the entire country of an efficient road system; the need to ease the inequitable tax burden currently applied to road users.
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What is the federal gasoline excise tax used for?
Taxes account for approximately 30 to 45 per cent (depending on the province you reside in) of what you pay at the pumps. The federal gasoline excise tax is 10 cents per litre. This translates into approximately $5 billion per year. A mere 7 per cent of those funds are reinvested into the maintenance of roads and highways. The remaining 93% of this revenue is not dedicated to any programs specific to the maintenance or sustainability of roads, highways or bridges.
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Where does money to fund the improvement of roads come from?
Taxes are usually responsible for the largest component of gasoline prices.
On average, Canadian taxes represent 30 to 45 per cent of what you pay at the pumps. The federal government charges 10 cents a litre on gasoline—this is the federal excise tax. The federal government gains $5 billion a year from the federal excise tax. Only 7 percent of that $5 billion is spent on roads and highways.
This compares poorly with other countries around the world. For example, the United States invests 31% of a similar tax into road structure, Germany invests 38%, in Italy it is 45%, Australia invests 50%, Spain and France invest 65% and in Great Britain, 100% of similar tax revenues are invested into road structure.
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How do road repairs help the environment?
Improving roads to accommodate the flow of traffic during peak times reduces idling and congestion which reduces emissions and conserves gasoline.
Idling vehicles produce 77% more emissions than vehicles not caught on congested roads. Idling vehicles in summer heat further increases fuel consumption by almost 20 per cent when air conditioners are factored in.
Vehicle fuel emissions (or volatile organic compounds) are one of two main contributors to smog and are responsible for 26% of Canada's greenhouse gas emissions, second largest producer only to energy industries, which are responsible for 31% of greenhouse gas emissions.
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What causes traffic congestion?
Traffic congestion is created when there is excess demand on a highway or road, or when the actual number of vehicles on the road is greater than the capacity of that road to maintain effective traffic flow. Congestion is caused by a variety of factors: construction, lane reductions in the road, a collision on the road, rubbernecking, bad weather, and poor signal timing are a few.
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How does congestion affect the environment?
Congestion affects the environment in two ways:
First congestion increases emissions. Traffic congestion causes cars to slow down, even to stop. When cars idle, they are still burning fuel and still releasing fuel emissions into the atmosphere. Vehicle fuel emissions, or volatile organic compounds, are one of two main ingredients in smog.
Second, congestion causes cars to use more fuel. Cars idling in pockets of traffic congestion use more fuel than cars not required to slow down because they spend more time on the roads, thereby using more gas.
In their 2004 study, the American Highway Users Alliance reported that adequate repairs to our highways could reduce smog-contributing emissions by 50%, and would reduce rush hour delays by 74%, saving commuters an average of 30 minutes more each day.
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What is smog?
H.A. Des Voex first coined the term "smog" in 1905, combining the words "smoke" and "fog." Smog forms in the lower atmosphere, just above the Earth's surface when energy from the sun reacts with industrial pollutants and motor vehicle exhaust particles in the air. The result is a deadly grey or brown cloud hanging in the air.
Smog has two key components: nitrogen oxides, which are produced when fossil fuels (such as gasoline) are burned; and volatile organic compounds. Volatile organic compound (VOC) emissions do exist in nature; but these natural sources are not as predominant as artificial ones. Examples of major artificial sources of VOC emissions exist where gasoline evaporates: motor vehicles, oil-based paints, nail polish remover and barbecue starters, are all significant sources. Gasoline emissions are one of the single largest contributors to smog, so to reduce congestion would be to reduce the impact of smog on Canadians—our health, our crops, and our environment.
Smog is harmful to humans in a variety of ways. It can cause mild respiratory distress, coughing, asthma, bronchitis, reduced resistance to lung infections, and colds and eye irritation—all of which lead to increased health care costs. Smog can also have a negative effect on vegetation. Because it prevents sufficient photosynthesis, it can damage leaves and r-educe the yield of plants and crops.
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Why is repairing roads beneficial to my health?
According to Transport Canada, in 2003, 2,778 road users were killed in traffic collisions and almost 225,000 were injured.
The World Health Organization (WHO) and the World Bank have also concluded that traffic safety is a major but neglected global health problem, requiring concerted governmental efforts for effective and sustainable prevention. In dealing with this challenge, WHO advocates a multidisciplinary approach that looks at the interactions between road users, vehicles, and roadway infrastructure. This approach has been adopted widely in many countries, including Australia, Finland, France, and the United States. It would be wise for Canadian decision-makers to follow the example of these nations. With safer roads and highways, the Council of Ministers Responsible for Transportation and Highway Safety estimated in 1998 that fatalities could be reduced by almost 280 and the number of serious injuries reduced by up to 16,000 each year.
Improved roadway infrastructure, such as wider lanes, better condition highways and roads, mandatory rumble strips, and gentler curvature in roads and highways allow for more forgiving road conditions for motorists. Forgiving road conditions reduce the likelihood of collisions causing injury or death. Proactive measures reduce ambulance calls, free up hospital beds and medical personnel time, and reduce the number of medical visits, including rehabilitation, required by collision victims. These reductions translate into reduced dependence and costs for our health care system.
Unfortunately, traffic and roadway safety in Canada is not recognized as a national public health challenge. As a result, the health and safety-related benefits of enhanced roadways have been widely overlooked. This policy oversight is inconsistent with the government's national traffic safety strategy, Road Safety Vision 2010, which calls for a 30 per cent decrease in the average number of road users killed or seriously injured by 2010.
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What about the New Deal for Cities and Communities?
Announced in December 2003, the New Deal for Cities and Communities focuses on the need for cities, communities, and all levels of government to work together to alleviate stresses facing cities such as increasing public transit, generating cleaner air and water, facilitating immigrant integration, funding the rehabilitation of roads and bridges and capacity building, etc., as well as helping Canadian cities and communities improve the quality of the environment, through reduced greenhouse gas emissions and cleaner air and water.
In February 2005, the government allocated $5 billion in federal gasoline excise tax funding over the next five years and then proceeded to advise each province and territory of their share of this revenue.
Government officials negotiated bilateral agreements with the provinces and territories to benefit large and small communities. Allocation is based on a per capita distribution, with a targeted allocation for Nunavut, the Northwest Territories, the Yukon, and Prince Edward Island. This recognizes the need for less-populated jurisdictions to have sufficient funds for significant infrastructure investments, and the increased costs associated with infrastructure in northern and remote areas.
At the beginning of June, the Minister of State (Infrastructure and Communities) John Godfrey announced an increased investment of (up to) $800 million, over the next two years to further fund public transit. While these funds are earmarked as part of the New Deal for Cities and Communities, they are on top of, and not a portion, of the already dedicated $5 billion previously announced federal gasoline excise tax funds that will be devoted to environmentally sustainable municipal infrastructure.
Unfortunately, communities with populations larger than 500,000 residents are restricted from spending their portion of the $5 billion on roads, highways, and bridges. This is an arbitrary provision, which undermines the needs and priorities of local communities.
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