first a possible increase on gasoline, now possibly more tolls? betch plox?
 

New tolls suggested for Metro Vancouver drivers - British Columbia - CBC News

A confidential TransLink report says charging tolls on many more roads in Metro Vancouver could raise the hundreds of millions of dollars needed to make our transit system work.

The report, Evaluation of Revenue Sources to Support Transportation Improvements, makes a number of fundraising suggestions, but possibly most contentious among them is what’s called “road pricing.”

The system could be implemented by charging for vehicles at major exit and entry points to the region, like bridges and tunnels.

'It's a very efficient investment of taxpayer dollars.'—Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson

A $1.60 toll on vehicles would bring in at least $100 million a year, according to one estimate in the report.

Other options include imposing a toll for each kilometre a vehicle is driven on main roads, suggested at 67 cents per kilometre, or charging vehicle registration fees of $35 and $105.

As hugely unpopular as they might be, user fees makes sense, according to UBC transportation professor Robin Lindsey, because funding needs to be raised somehow for road construction and maintenance, and for transit.

"Road pricing is a very good tool for addressing that,” Lindsey told CBC News. “You can price the roads according to how much congestion there is, you can do it by time of day, which I think was one of the suggestions, and I strongly support that."

Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson reasons that road pricing is cheaper in the long run.

“It's an investment in better transit around the region and reducing traffic and congestion,” Robertson said Friday. “We need to keep investing on that. It's a very efficient investment of taxpayer dollars that reduce the overall cost of living.”

A few Lower Mainland drivers that CBC News spoke to weren’t seeing the logic.

“Not liking that at all,” said one. “I already pay enough in taxes that I don't feel like I need to pay to drive on a certain road.”

“I guess it wouldn't really deter me from driving, but it would sure be another hole in my wallet,” said another.

Final revenue-increasing recommendations from TransLink are expected to be completed and forwarded to the province in the next few weeks.

'It's a very efficient investment of taxpayer dollars.'—Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson



^ lol what a chump piece of shit scumbag hippie.

...other options include imposing a toll for each kilometre a vehicle is driven on main roads, suggested at 67 cents per kilometre...

My commute is a 135 kilometer round trip, that would equate to my paying over $90 in tolls to drive to school each day.

$1800 a month in tolls, no problem..

even if it's a typo, and it's actually only 0.067 cents per kilometer..

$180 a month in tolls, WTF.

i wouldn't be too off set for a $1 a day if you use the highways, i wouldn't agree with $1.60 for every major highway entrence and exit, plus bridges, if that's what they are saying.

ps:did anyone see In Time? where thay charge people way more then they could ever afford to change cities? gas possibley going to $1.75 major roads getting taxed? i just hope the money actually goes to it's purpose and not someones pocket.

:rukidding: FUCK the transit, every year they want to raise this and raise that because they are still running a deficit

This is really BS. I run a trucking business in the lower mainland and we drive between 100-300km's in one day. This would definitely put a lot of us out of business if we do not pass the charge onto our clients. We're already paying a premium on commercial insurance and increased prices at the diesel pumps.

Sure, they can implement the by-the-mileage billing. I'll just unplug my odometer. :p

BC, THE BEST PLACE ON EARTH.

It would most likely be done by camera's. Catch your plate when you enter the road and when you leave.

What you would need is this: HIdden License Plate Kits « autoloc.com

I googled how much Gregor Robertson earned in 2009 and it totaled $161,469. That's with travel allowance and travel/ conference category.

We can assume that they give themselves a 10 percent raise every year for the "good job" that they do every year. Bike lane on a bridge??? lol

I would like to see politicians having a salary cap.50k-70k If a politicians do something that benefits the people and society in BC they should be entitled for a bonus for doing a great job.

That would also go for CEO's of government owned company's such as ICBC, BC Ferries, Translink. They get paid millions for ideas like "higher preimiums, higher fees, road taxes, tolls" etc.

I'm getting tried of taxes as a solution to every problems "deficits" in BC. Especially when it hurt the middle class earners that have to foot the bill for it.

I would support bridge tolls and highway tolls. That`s it. No per KM billing. And I would only support it if translink is not involved. Fuck translink.

Someone needs to put a bond on his name so he can get murked.

the problem with this is then who would be willing to be a politician? not saying robertson here is the best bean in the stalk but the quality of people willing to work for 50-70k is alot less than what they're getting from people receiving 100+k now

all the high quality people will work for private companies getting paid 100+k while public corporations/offices are stuck with whats left

WTF... whats the difference then going to a restaurant and paying other peoples bills..

Im not taking transit, why should I suffer!!

Isnt there already a fee when registering for your car...

Perhaps we need to stop trying to save the environment all by ourselves.

Maybe we need to build a little less big fancy new stuff that looks good on a record of ones political legacy but does little to pay for itself...evergreen line.

I don't know, maybe we need to realize that nickle and diming the population will do nothing to create a place where people want to set up businesses, and live and raise families. Maybe that would do more to increase revenue based on volume, not the absolute maximum that we can scrape from the people that are left.

Maybe we need to understand that socialism doesn't work.

Maybe we need politicians who's political legacy is "I did nothing, and it worked"

Maybe its time for me to start packing some bloody boxes, realize that the mountains are not worth it and snow melts and live some place else.

Well for starters, it would weed out all the people who are just doing it for the paycheque and bring in more people who want to actually do some good.

While I don't ever trust the word of a politician, if creating these extra revenue streams can help us get to the level of European transit and transit in big cities like TO/NYC then I'm for it. It should also force a few people to use transit and leave their car at home which IMO is a good thing. There are many people, like myself who 'could' use transit but the costs/time is so close to driving that I would rather drive. Now if there were tolls, that would change things. People need to remember driving is a privilege, not a right.

Must be easy to think tolling a vehicle for each kilometer driven is a good idea when you ride your bike everywhere Gregor.

Public transit in itself is a public service. It is suppose to run a deficit because it is a cost centre. Just like how the health care system and education system run deficits if u just isolate them and look at them as separate operations.
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LOL Richmond will be fuck lol if tollilling on all bridges is to happen.

Toll ppl on highway? Then ppl was just avoid highways and use other major roads that isn't classfied as highways or use smaller streests. Which in terms create more traffic for those areas.

Tolling certain areas/certain things will only make ppl avoid it. There are like 4 to 5 different routes I can take to work which some invole highways, others don't. If they were to toll highways you can bet for sure I am going to stay off highways. If they toll bridges then I just won't go to richmond any longer which will impact a lot of business in Richmond for sure.

If transit need money to build the evergreen line then tax the city that will benfit from it (coq, poco coq........) since it will benfit those ppl but not such a benfit for the rest of us. Or increase transit fares (which it is going up next year anyways).

ceo's of icbc/hydro/translink -- need to be fired or those industries need to be privatized. maybe in a few years, KEVIN falcon will realize that those three corps don't fit the provinces core competencies and privatize, just like bcld warehouses.

im sure anyone average joe can make a better ceo. we need a ceo from the people for the people. not some goon with a monkey brain.

There's been research that when politicians are underpaid, they tend to be more corrupt. The higher the wage, the less the corruption. Many countries pay their politicians peanuts, and therefore they resort to bribes and corruption.

Its demand and supply, theres too few people that want to be politicians, and we need to attract the good ones somehow.

Wow :rukidding:

CEO and employees of ICBC, Translink, etc needs to get their salary reduced... Did news mentioned about CEO of translink is getting paid about roughly 325k a year if I remember correctly?

Yes, but you can still compare the efficiency of those costs centres.

Look at the states, there's so many tolls everywhere, bridges, highways etc. We could go to a user pay system.

I use to live in Surrey, basically minutes before the Port Mann Bridge, if I didnt want to pay the tolls I would have to go out of my way and drive extra kms and time to go to the Pattullo. Thankfully I dont have to worry about that.

I say we toll ALL Bridges at a cheaper rate like $.50 cents or $1, instead.

I often make this argument, yet there is a limit where being paid more doesn't equal a better politician. Most politicians take a huge paycut to get into politics, they do it cause they want to - as after a certain point the salary doesn't matter cause they are going to go into politics anyways.

They should not be getting raises when everyone else is taking cuts.

Wait, what? Why am I being referenced here? Tolling has been around forever, and Canada is way behind the times when it comes to the rest of the world. If you think I support Translink and ICBC, you're mistaken. I support tolls. Re-read my post earlier and notice how I said I would support tolls, so long at Translink was not involved. Read before you post. :rukidding: