More fuel added to the road pricing fire
The Port Mann Bridge is where Surrey and other South Fraser residents already participate in road pricing
A group of academics and former politicians is adding fuel
to an already-raging fire.
The fire is the issue of paying to use infrastructure to get
around in urban areas, which in Canada and many other places are becoming increasingly
congested. There was plenty of discussion about urban congestion in the recent
federal election, with all three major parties promising to spend more on
infrastructure. Significantly, tolls and road pricing were barely mentioned.
Many Surrey, Delta, White Rock and other South Fraser
residents are already paying a form of congestion tax. As the primary users of the
Port Mann and Golden Ears bridges, they pay every time they cross. There are
minimal alternatives.
The Pattullo Bridge is supposedly the “free” alternative to
the Port Mann, but it is in poor condition and is itself badly-congested. There
are regular closures to do the minimal maintenance needed to keep it open, but
there is no replacement on the horizon.
There are no “free” alternatives to the Golden Ears, which due
to the toll is by far the least-congested Fraser River crossing in the entire
Lower Mainland. It gets a reasonable amount of use, primarily because there are
few alternatives to get to and from Maple Ridge and Pitt Meadows.
Transit on both bridges is minimal (one bus route on each
bridge). This shortcoming adds to the widespread perception that the tolls are punishment
for people who live in certain areas of the region.
The academic-political group, known as the Ecofiscal Commission,
is proposing a much more comprehensive use of road pricing in congested areas,
in particular Greater Vancouver, Calgary, Toronto and Montreal. Among the members of the commission's advisory board are former B.C. premier Mike Harcourt, former prime minister Paul Martin and former Reform Party leader Preston Manning.
Road pricing of course
has been discussed in this region by the Mayors’ Council, and even half-heartedly
endorsed as a long-term solution to transit funding woes. However, progress on
the issue has been glacial, largely because the divisions of responsibility over
transportation among the provincial government, TransLink and individual cities
has led to a great deal of buck-passing.
An interesting experiment in congestion pricing is just getting
underway in the Seattle region, which is often even more congested than Greater
Vancouver and has fewer transit options. Improvements to Interstate 405, which
is a popular alternative to using Interstate 5 through downtown Seattle, have
created new tolled lanes. They take the place of the previous HOV lane, on the
stretch of I-405 between its northern junction with I-5 in Lynnwood and Bellevue.
There are no more free rides for vehicles with two occupants
using the lanes in peak hours. Only with proper passes, and three or more occupants,
can vehicles travel for free. Everyone else pays tolls, which vary widely based
on the amount of traffic in the lanes, and the distance travelled. The rates
rise as more drivers use the lanes. Washington state department of transportation
says that tolls can vary between 75 cents and $10. There are no “free” times
when the lane can be used - it is a paid lane, 24 hours a day.
The objective is to keep move traffic moving in those lanes at
a speed of at least 45 miles per hour, which is 75 per cent of the maximum speed
of 60. Planners believe that drivers stuck in gridlock will see others moving along at that speed, and that
some will be willing to pay extra to get to their destinations faster.
The reaction has been decidedly mixed thus far. A blog post
last week on the WashDOT site puts a good spin on the results after one month
of operation, but reader comments are mainly negative, with some saying the new
lanes have caused more traffic on I-5, already badly-congested.
South Fraser residents in general have supported an even-handed
approach to bridge tolling in the Metro Vancouver region, favouring suggestions
of tolls of $1 or so for all bridges. This of course would reduce tolls on the
Port Mann and Golden Ears, but add them to the Pattullo, Alex Fraser,
Queensborough and Deas Island crossings.
Congestion taxation, toll lanes, more bridge tolls and other
revenue sources to boost transportation spending and attempt to shape traffic
patterns seem to be inevitable. They will likely find some favour with most
drivers if they are applied in an even-handed and less costly fashion.
A shortened version of this post appears in The Surrey-North Delta Leader and Peace Arch News this week
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