Which would you prefer?
1. Tolls on bridges being brought back.
2. Being charged a monthly fee based on how many kilometres you drove and what zones you drove to and from, or
3. None of the above.
Our guess is that the majority of drivers would choose the third option.
Hence, the very challenging exercise of coming up with solid recommendations on how to relieve congestion in the Lower Mainland.
The Mobility Pricing Independent Commission released a report last week that was the first step in trying to come up with a way to decrease congestion and also help pay for future transit improvements. It’s a tough balance.
Burnaby Mayor Derek Corrigan said: “We keep trying to find a way to reduce congestion, but I don’t know that having people pay more is going to significantly change the traffic patterns in the Lower Mainland.”
We have to disagree.
The proof is pretty simple. When the NDP took tolls off of the bridges, traffic increased. Even Corrigan’s own city councillors acknowledge this. The problem is that placing tolls on bridges that working-class folks and truckers need to cross just to make a living starts looking like just another tax on the poor as opposed to a balanced approach to transportation in the Lower Mainland.
As the commission’s report noted, in five European countries that implemented mobility pricing, the level of support for instituting such a system before the change was very low. But once it was in and working, support rose dramatically.
Not surprising.
The problem, as usual, is that politicians are very reluctant to put in a system that is unpopular to begin with.
That kind of political will requires vision and guts. And, as we’ve seen in the past in the Lower Mainland, politicians would much prefer to put the onus on another level of government to pay for transit than tackle the tough decisions.
The commission is working its way through the issues, and collecting input.
It seems fair to say that it is leaning towards a mixed system. You can’t be penalizing drivers who have no access to public transit, and letting those who have access to public transit get a free pass when they use their fancy cars to clog up downtown corridors.
The question is not whether the commission can come up with recommendations. The question will be the same one we always face: will politicians have the intestinal fortitude to implement a system that many voters won’t like.
