Transit infrastructure in and around Toronto “needs tens of billions of dollars over the next 20 years” and new tolls and taxes are the only way to pay for it, says Premier Kathleen Wynne.

But in a major speech to 350 people at the Toronto Region Board of Trade on Monday, Wynne stressed any looming levies for combating gridlock would be earmarked to improve public transit and roads.

“I believe that any investments from new revenue must be entirely and transparently dedicated to transportation projects so that the cost is tied to a measurable result,” the premier said.

“People need to know what they are paying for and they need to see where the money is going,” she said to applause from the business audience.

Wynne said motorists alone should not unjustly bear the burden of bankrolling the new infrastructure.

“This cannot just be about one group of commuters. Contrary to what some people will have you believe, there is no war on cars, no war on transit, no war on cyclists.”

That was a clear shot at Toronto Mayor Rob Ford, who opposes road tolls or congestion charges and was elected in 2010 in part because he campaigned against “the war on the car.”

Last week, Ford strongly criticized Metrolinx for its shopping list of potential tools to raise money for transit.

Wynne emphasized “any new tool cannot disproportionately impact one type of commute, but must recognize the strains across the system” and encourage changes in “people’s behaviour.”

The premier pointedly declined to say whether she favoured tolls, congestion charges, parking fees or other “potential revenue tools,” saying she would await the provincial transportation agency Metrolinx’s June report on its investment plans for the region.

“I don’t want to pre-empt the process of people in the region having the opportunity to weigh in (with) their vision of what transit should look like,” she told reporters after her speech.

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