Port Mann traffic surges; Massey project halted
Mayors say more commuters using Port Mann and Golden Ears bridges now that they’re free
Local mayors say they have already noticed a shift in traffic since tolls were removed from two Lower Mainland bridges last week.
On Sept. 1, the NDP government followed through on a campaign promise to cancel tolls on the Port Mann and Golden Ears bridges, calling them unfair to those living south of the Fraser River.
New Westminster Mayor Jonathan Cote said his city has observed a shift in traffic away from the Pattullo Bridge, which was not tolled, to the Port Mann.
“I think that definitely reinforces what the City of New Westminster has been saying for a long time, that the previous tolling system was kind of done haphazardly and in a way that was redistributing traffic in the region in a way that was not equitable and in a way that was actually creating congestion points in the region,” he said.
The Pattullo has almost 80,000 vehicle crossings a day.
Cote said it’s anticipated there will be increased congestion on the Highway 1 corridor around the Port Mann.
“I think commuters are going to start to notice the impacts that removing the tolls will have,” he said.
Before the announcement that tolls would be removed on Sept. 1, Maple Ridge Mayor Nicole Read said she heard many residents say tolls were the reason many of them avoided the Golden Ears Bridge, which is owned by TransLink and connects Maple Ridge to Langley.
“Anecdotally, we’re seeing a significant increase in the traffic going over the Golden Ears Bridge and then the Port Mann,” she said of the toll removal. “In the midst of an affordability crisis, those tolls were something that prevented people from taking the bridges.”
Initial figures from the Transportation Investment Corporation, which operates the Port Mann, seem to support the mayors’ observations. Since tolls were removed last week, daily vehicle traffic on the Port Mann Bridge jumped between 24 and 38 per cent over last year’s numbers.
TI Corp. is planning to leave cameras and sensors on the Port Mann toll gantry operational so they can monitor changes to traffic patterns.
TransLink CEO Kevin Desmond said his agency has traffic counters on the Pattullo and Golden Ears bridges.
TransLink only has traffic data from the Labour Day weekend for the Golden Ears Bridge so far, and Desmond said there was an increase.
“But I wouldn’t put too much credence on that. Let’s see how commuting patterns really emerge,” he said, adding that it will likely take weeks to understand those patterns.
On a typical weekday, Golden Ears has 40,000 vehicle crossings, and that’s expected to increase 20 to 30 per cent thanks to the removal of tolls.
Cote said members of the mayors’ council on regional transportation realize the previous tolling system was unfair and didn’t work for the region, and he hopes the toll removal will open the conversation about mobility pricing.