In a month or so, the Independent Mobility Pricing Commission, will unveil its plan on how motorists could either pay for the number of kilometres they drive, or when they pass certain congestion points, such as on bridges, tunnels or choke points.
But an interest group has already cast doubt on the first proposal, as did Maple Ridge Mayor Nicole Read months earlier.
The Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives study, Getting Around Metro Vancouver, echoes Read’s comments that any road tolling system has to be fair and not penalize commuters who have longer commutes, as faced by people in Maple Ridge.
“Mobility pricing will likely fail if it is perceived to be unfair, although fairness is perceived to be in the eye of the beholder,” said the report.
It notes that no other city in the world has fully implemented a distance-based road tolling system where people are charged on the number of kilometres they drive. Start-up costs would be higher and there would be technical and privacy issues, the study says.
Read said in January that if a road tolling system doesn’t work for Maple Ridge, the whole region would hear about it.
“Our community punches above its weight and we showed that in the plebiscite,” she said then.
People don’t want to pay more charges if they don’t see improvements in transit, she added.
Maple Ridge had the highest no-vote in the 2015 referendum which defeated a proposed .5-per-cent increase in the provincial sales tax to pay for transit.
She still feels that way and doesn’t want to add much else, until she sees the recommendations.
“I’m awaiting the final report,” she said.
Cycling advocate Jackie Chow acknowledges that some kind of road pricing is necessary, but she too adds that the various regions in Metro Vancouver must be treated fairly. People move to Maple Ridge because of lower home prices in a region where a home of their own is out of reach for many.
If a new mobility pricing system was implemented making Maple Ridge residents pay more in tolls because they live farther awary, “you’re punishing people again,” said Chow.
According to the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives study, a system of congestion point charges, on bridges or road choke points, is more realistic. Such a system is already in place in London and Stockholm.
The Independent Mobility Pricing Commission, launched last June, is expected to produce a report on how to charge motorists by early May.
The commission is considering two options: congestion point charges, which would hit when a car drives by a specific point; or distance-based charges, which would be per kilometre, based on the location and time of day.
“The key thing is to make sure you’re doing this in a way that’s as fair as possible,” said Lee.
“You could have a situation where a driver who has to cross a bridge for a very short trip ends up having to pay a toll that someone who never has to cross a bridge can drive a lot farther and don’t have to pay a toll.”
Skyrocketing housing prices often mean that those who live on the region’s fringes are those who can least afford to pay additional fees to drive, he said.
Charging commuters for driving their cars is only feasible if most of them have other options, Lee added.
TransLink is bringing in four B-Lines, on connecting Maple Ridge to Coquitlam, which will run at least every 10 minutes, in 2019 and is in the early stages of bringing light rail into Surrey and Langley.
The new transit comes as part of the regional mayors’ 10-year transportation vision, though Lee thinks more planning will be needed.
“You need to have that capacity just to absorb folks who are going to move from driving their car to taking public transit.”
While the mobility commission will recommend some type of road pricing that would help fund Phase 3 of the mayors plan on regional transportation, it’s up to TransLink and the Mayors’ Council to decide whether to accept it.
– with files from Black Press
