Plan to toll bridges and tunnels not expected to fly
Province says existing policy, which requires an untolled alternative to a tolled crossing, is unlikely to change at this point
A potential plan by Metro Vancouver mayors to toll all of the region’s bridges and tunnels to generate funds for future transit projects looks doubtful after B. C.’ s transportation minister said Wednesday the province likely wouldn’t support it.
Blair Lekstrom said the move, which would require a change to the province’s existing tolling policy, “is not something the government has been pursuing.”
The government’s policy requires at least one free crossing for every route, with tolls placed only on new infrastructure to help pay for it. This means, for instance, that when the new tolled Port Mann Bridge opens later this year, the Pattullo or Alex Fraser bridges would have to remain untolled.
“Right now we have a tolling policy and there’s no intention to change it,” Lekstrom said. “I know that this has been floated, and there are areas around the world [ where it’s happening].
“I don’t know whether the government would say we’d be prepared to say we’d change the toll policy. At this point we’re not.”
Translink’s mayors’ council regional transportation had posed the notion as part of a road- pricing option — which could also see drivers charged for the distance travelled — to generate funds for transit projects.
The suggestion is part of a raft of options, both short- and long- term, aimed at raising $ 70 million annually to pay for projects such as new rapid transit lines and a replacement for the Pattullo Bridge.
Lekstrom, who met with mayors on Wednesday to discuss the options, said the decision on the preferred funding generators would come down to the mayors but noted they would have to engage the public.
Richard Walton, mayor of North Vancouver District and chairman of the mayors’ council, said decisions on short- term options, which could include a vehicle levy or congestion charges, would have to be made soon so changes to legislation can be introduced.
The legislature finishes its current sitting at the end of May.
The mayors, who already approved a two- cents- a- litre increase to the gas tax, which will generate $ 40 million per year for transit projects, must come up with an alternative form of funding by the end of the year or a temporary property tax increase of an average $ 23 per homeowner, will take effect on Jan. 1, 2013.
Translink at present has only three ways to raise funds: through the gas tax, through property taxes or increasing fares for transit users.
Translink commissioner Martin Crilly is expected to rule April 10 on whether Translink is justified in its plan to raise fares by 12.5 per cent next spring.
Meanwhile, Lekstrom said he is open to looking at governance changes at Translink, as well as having an independent auditor for the transportation authority. “I’m leaving it up to the mayors’ council to put that request forward,” he said.