There is an electronic toll highway in southern Ontario. We have a little black box that is mounted on the windshield. It records where you enter the highway and where you exit and you are charged according to when you travel.

The 407 is not a government-owned highway, though it does operate under a leasing agreement with the government. A 99-year lease to was sold by the provincial government to 407 ETR International Incorporated for approximately 3.1 billion Canadian dollars in 1999. Highway 407 is believed to be the first financially successful privately-owned toll road in North America.

As part of a controversial plan to finance revenue for tax cuts, the highway was sold to a conglomerate of private companies in 1999 for $3.1 billion. The deal included an unprecedented 99-year lease agreement, unlimited control of the highway and its tolls, as well as a clause protecting the corporation from any competition, not the least of which includes a ban on construction of any nearby provincial highways that may reduce toll revenue.

From the 407 website:

We will continue to use revenue from tolls to pay for additional lanes, our daily Roadside Assistance Patrol, year-round road maintenance and police enforcement. Using revenue from tolls to improve the highway is a direct benefit to customers who choose to use 407 ETR.


If you're lucky, Jim, the highway will get sold to private companies. They don't lie when they say the revenue is for year round maintainence.

Stephanie