The dividing line of support for taking tolls off bridges can be seen pretty clearly in the Lower Mainland. Those who live on the south side of the river and have to commute to the north side are almost universally for taking off the tolls. Those on the north side who don’t have to use the bridges are definitely leaning to the “let them pay” side. To say that this self-interest didn’t have an impact on voting trends in the provincial election is naive at best. The removal of tolls means many families south of the Fraser will save an average of $1,500 a year and commercial drivers will save $4,500.
But there’s also the commuters on the north side who hope that south of the river commuters will now fan out and reduce congestion on some routes on the north side.
Take city councillor Colleen Jordan’s assertion that it will lessen traffic in Burnaby because of the potential rerouting. Of course, this is all guesswork. When the tolls come off, it may also encourage many more drivers to take to the roadways, and that could actually create more congestion.
No matter how you cut it, though, it will not discourage driving. And that’s one of the main reasons B.C. Green Party leader Andrew Weaver came out solidly against the plan.
He also rightly says that the B.C. NDP may be making things more affordable for the folks south of the river in the Lower Mainland and Fraser Valley, but the infrastructure costs still need to be paid, and those costs will end up being redistributed to all B.C. taxpayers.
To someone who has to use a ferry to make a living, this has to sting.
But who can blame the NDP for starting their reign with a giveaway. It’s not like the B.C. Liberals didn’t do the same. And it was the Liberals who basically spent 16 years bungling TransLink and playing politics with the Mayors’ Council.
But now the clock is running on the NDP. The province has established a committee that is studying how some form of mobility pricing could be implemented.
Let’s hope that the committee isn’t as cravenly obvious with political pandering. If it makes decisions based on riding pleasing as opposed to rational policies, then we predict another ugly commute no matter how “free” it is.
