There won’t be any special Christmas present for truckers who use the tolled Port Mann Bridge.
Transportation Investment Corp. officials have decided against offering any further reform to the tolls to provide a break to big rigs.
They had been considering offering truckers a monthly pass similar to the one for regular cars that would give them unlimited use for a flat fee.
“There will be no change for trucks,” TI Corp. spokesman Greg Johnson said.
Talk of changes came in the fall after New Westminster councillors called for lower Port Mann truck tolls so fewer trucks divert to the free Pattullo Bridge and congest their streets.
Heavy trucks will continue to pay $9 per crossing.
Unlike regular vehicles, most of which still have a half price discount on their $3 tolls until Jan. 1, there was no early adoption incentive for trucks.
But Johnson noted truckers do have a permanent 50 per cent toll discount if they use the bridge at night.
He said trucks going between Langley and Vancouver are already saving 30 minutes in travel time after the new bridge opened.
That time saving climbs to one hour as the rest of the newly built lanes west of the bridge open by Christmas, he said, adding the cost savings from reaching destinations sooner will exceed what they spend on the toll.
Johnson said truck traffic on the Port Mann is up 25 per cent from December of last year.
