The Quebec government should institute highway tolls to pay for long-term roadwork and maintenance, said the Montreal Economic Institute in a report published Monday.

The user-pay principle is an "efficient" way to fund the province's highway network because it makes "people who use roads the most pay the most," said report author Mathieu Laberge.

The federal government welcomed the recommendation but transport activists said they are skeptical about the province charging a user tax that would be used only for road repairs and not public transit.

The report proposes four types of tolls with projected income:

1. A toll ranging from $0.60 to $2.40 per trip across Montreal's 15 bridges ($445 million per year).
2. A Montreal highway toll.
3. A general toll on highways in Quebec's larger urban centres.
4. A toll on the most congested roads and highways across the province ($1.6 billion per year).

In the fourth scenario, drivers would pay $0.05 per kilometre to travel on roads with traffic surpassing 10,000 vehicles daily.

Federal Public Works Minister Michael Fortier endorsed the report, saying Quebec is ready to return to toll highways after abolishing them in the late 1980s.

"The reality is, with respect to certain projects, I think people are willing to consider tolls," he said at a Montreal event on Monday. "Because they realize governments cannot alone basically underwrite 100 per cent [...] that is required" to pay for roads, he said.

In February, the Quebec government announced a $2.7 billion fund to repair the province's aging highway network.

Montreal transportation advocacy group Transport 2000 supports tolls as a way to generate income but dismissed the report's recommendation that funds exclusively finance upkeep and maintenance.

"There's no mention of any transfer of funds to help public transit," said Transport 2000 president Jean Léveillé. "If the money goes to the provincial government, I'm not sure what part of that money will go into public transit."

The city of Montreal has previously asked the province for bridge tolls to help pay for the island's public system, Léveillé said. Dedicating toll revenue exclusively to road and highway maintenance won't help Montreal develop a better public transit system, he said.

There are currently no toll roads in Quebec, but plans for two new ones are underway: Highway 30 on Montreal's South Shore and Highway 25 between Montreal and Laval.

With files from the Canadian Press