Toll Me

Last night I took the 501 to Colossus Langley and saw the new Batman movie. I have to say it was pretty darn good. Anyway when I was on the bus, I happened upon a 24 newspaper (the bus was covered with them.) On page 6 was a column called “Time to motorist tolls”. It touches on Surrey’s rejection on Translink’s 2040 plan, Translink's impending financial doom, and the crazy cost of building SkyTrain compared to restoring the Interurban.

Finally, it talks about the $30 million annual operating cost of the major road network. (FYI: Translink has spend $336 million on the major road network to date, and over the next 35 years will spend $808 million on the Golden Ears Bridge.)

[The Major Road Network is] supposed to be funded by those same taxes that pay for the rest of TransLink's operations, but unlike transit, there are no additional user fees - or put more simply, tolls.

The only toll bridge to come in the near future is the Golden Ears Bridge. The rest of the road network doesn't carry any fee at all.

It's high time that road users started paying user fees in addition to taxes. Transit users have been doing so for over a century.

Makes sense to me.