Costs to use Ontario's 407 ETR may have just increased, but a select few drivers are getting a steep discount to take the toll highway this spring.

Residents who hardly ever use the 407 — which now bills motorists in light vehicles between 30.22 and 71.26 cents per kilometre, plus camera, trip, and other charges — have been noticing a strange promotion in their inboxes, encouraging them to return to the paid freeway.

The message, sent out by the private concession that owns the route, offers up free rush hour travel for three full months, from April 1 to June 30, 2024.

The ploy, one might suspect, is to get residents used to choosing the less-congested 407 for their daily commute so they they continue taking it after the promo ends.

I just love that private companies can continue making outrageous profits off Canadian's essential needs like commuting & housing and we just get to "work harder" to afford life :) https://t.co/UkT7lDUWAC

— Sam (@SamPender) January 5, 2024

"Did anyone else who uses 407 get this? Or just me because I stopped using it recently?" one citizen asked on Reddit this week, eliciting tons of responses from people who received the same marketing communication recently.

"They just bumped prices up and they want you to be dependent on the 407. Kinda like a drug dealer, the first few are free!" one person joked in the comments section.

"They need to hit their metrics for number of cars on the road," another speculated, to which yet another replied, "their prices are so exorbitant that they need to give away product for free so that the quantitative data supports their narrative."

Did anyone else who uses 407 get this? Or just me because I stopped using it recently?
byu/Jaded_Promotion8806 inontario

Though some worried the missive may have been from a fraudulent source given the uptick in 407 scams lately, the 407 ETR Concession confirmed to CTV News on Wednesday that the deal is indeed legitimate, and is something it extends to some customers every so often.

Based on comments online, it seems that drivers with transponders who haven't been using the road as frequently in recent weeks are the ones who are targeted, though the organization hasn't formally confirmed its selection criteria.

Most who claimed to have received the offer said online that they do plan to accept it, though they've avoided using the thoroughfare due to its high prices.

Doug Ford just banned tolls on all Ontario highways but the 407 and people are confused https://t.co/PLhr0vJCew Ontario sold the 407 so there is nothing they can do

— Klaus Bower (@klsbower) February 15, 2024

The 407 as we know it is comprised of a longer main portion owned, operated, and tolled privately as the 407 ETR between Burlington and Pickering; and a smaller stretch owned and operated by the provincial government (and tolled by the 407 ETR Concession on the Province's behalf) as Highway 407 between Pickering and Clarington.

Per the 407 ETR website, the company is just over 50 per cent owned by "indirectly owned subsidiaries of Canada Pension Plan Investment Board," while the remainder is owned by Spanish company Ferrovial S. A. and the scandal-plagued Montreal-based AtkinsRéalis Canada Inc.