personal transports like the Segway PT. Unlike over 40 U.S. states, the Ontario government has banned low-speed electric vehicles citing "safety concerns". On March 23, 2006, Ontario's McGuinty government doubled their former $1,000 ceiling sales tax rebate on hybrid cars such as the Toyota Prius up to a maximum of $2,000, but stopped short of making such vehicles PST-free. Politicians Norm Sterling and Howard Hampton have argued that diverting the same provincial funds used for paying for Drive Clean towards improving existing public transit networks might have yielded a far greater overall environmental benefit. Proper funding may have also acted to reduce the well-documented disproportional fare increases seen in Toronto from the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) in recent years. The TTC has argued in the past that with riders covering more than 80 per cent of the cost of operating the TTC, it is by far the least-funded mass transit system in North America and one of the least-funded in the world. Another lost opportunity to reduce smog was the quiet shut-down of the Hamilton Street Railway's all-electric trolleybus routes in 1992. The Ontario government has however invested toward expanding public transit in Ontario. It agreed to fund a variety of transit projects under The Big Move. The future of Drive Clean On June 7, 2010, the Ministry of Environment posted a request for proposals on MERX Canadian Public Tenders service. The modernized Drive Clean program, which was fully implemented on January 1, 2013, is intended to provide significant benefits by implementing OBD2 testing. Since January 1, 2013, the OBD2 testing has led to an average of 10% failure rate. On 1 April 2017, the $30 fee for a drive clean test was eliminated, however if failed the first time, $17.50 will be paid for subsequent tests. Vehicles manufactured before 1988 are exempt from the test. On September 28, 2018, the Ontario government under Doug Ford announced the cancellation of the Drive Clean program and instead focusing on heavy duty vehicles; the change became effective on April 1, 2019. See also AirCare - a similar program in British Columbia References External links Ontario Regulation 361/98 under the Environmental Protection Act Environmental Protection Act Set Fines under O. Reg 361/98 Drive Clean Website SMOKESCREEN: Exposing Drive Clean Fraser Forum: False Failures Checking up on smog-check: A Critique of Traditional Inspection and Maintenance Programs An Issue of Taxation Overkill in Drive Clean