One day, maybe years from now, you may still have to pay to cross a bridge or use a highway in Metro Vancouver.
While the Mayor’s Council on Regional Transportation decided last week how it will pay for its share of the Phase 2 roll out of TransLink’s 10-year transportation plan, which includes light rail in Surrey and SkyTrain extension in Vancouver, road tolling remains another long-term option for Phase 3 of plan.
A report is due in April from the Mobility Pricing Independent Commission that will outline tolling options. The Mayors’ Council and TransLink’s board of directors will then vote how, when or if to implement any strategy.
Whatever scheme is devised, it has to be fair, says Pitt Meadows Mayor John Becker.
”If there’s a generic levy across the region that doesn’t take into account the skimpy public transit we receive relative to other areas, if that’s not recognized in the report, I won’t support it,” Becker said.
Tolls on the Golden Ears and Port Mann bridges were removed in September by the new NDP government.
Becker supports road tolling or congestion pricing that would be scaled by the region – based on the level of transit each area receives.
Tolls would be higher in Vancouver, which has lots of transit, while charges in places like Pitt Meadows or Maple Ridge would be reduced to reflect this area’s reduced transit.
“It’s not fair for residents who live closer to transit hubs, who get better public transit investments … for the mobility pricing to be the same for them as it for our residents,” Becker said.
The pricing commission has whittled down the decision to two possible options. One involves charging vehicles when they pass a certain point, such as a bridge or tunnel or section of a road.
Another option is to charge motorists by the number of kilometres they travel, with charges varying based on the time of day.
According to the mobility pricing commission, any potential implementation is “years away.”
Maple Ridge Coun. Bob Masse was at the recent meeting that updated councillors on the possible options.
“Everything they talked about was going to be an absolute problem for our community,” Masse said. “This is absolutely not going to work for Maple Ridge.”
Mayor Nicole Read told the commission in January she’s opposed to congestion pricing or road tolls because there are insufficient transit options here.
The Mayors Council agreed last week to increasing transit fares by two per cent, increasing the parking tax, and increasing development cost charges and property taxes to fund its share of the $70-billion Phase 2 capital cost of the plan.
The federal and provincial government are paying 40 per cent each.
