Good news! For between $1,000 and $2,700 in annual road or bridge tolls our traffic could finally start moving again, according to a report from the Mobility Pricing Independent Commission
Not surprisingly, that idea is going over like a Ford Pinto in a demolition derby. It’s not just a pocketbook issue, either, there’s also a fear of the unknown.
Mobility pricing represents a fundamental shift in how we approach traffic congestion. For the most part, the only strategy tried in North America to deal with traffic volume is to build more, wider roads. Urban planners liken this to buying a larger belt to cure for obesity.
A gentle reminder: no one at any level of government is considering a wider replacement for the Lions Gate Bridge. Same goes for the Ironworkers. And the City of Vancouver has absolutely no interest in having more cars coming to its downtown core each day. Quite the opposite, in fact. Perhaps it’s time to focus on demand, not just supply.
Mobility pricing has been adopted and even embraced in a number of European cities because, quite simply, it works. Its applicability here is certainly up for debate but we welcome the start of the conversation.
The tolls might help Lower Mainland commuters get home in time for dinner every night, but we’ll likely never know.
The province probably can’t find a shelf high enough to toss the report. Both major political parties in B.C. know mobility pricing would be the third rail, so to speak, of transportation policy.
We know traffic is bad. We know our strategies for dealing with it are ineffective. We know we need something new. What we don’t know, however, is why we’re still so scared of the unknown.
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