Taxpayers to take $33-million hit as fewer drivers than collected, expected, payments, because, another

tiffiant

Taxpayers to take $33-million hit as fewer drivers than expected use Golden Ears Bridge



Metro Vancouver taxpayers are expected to be on the hook for another $33 million in costs for the Golden Ears Bridge this year, because fewer drivers than expected are using the region’s first tolled crossing.

Revenues from tolls are projected to be about $37.9 million this year, substantially more than the $30 million collected in 2010. However, TransLink’s payments to the bridge builder and operator increase to $71 million in 2011 from $52 million in 2010, and will rise again in 2012.

That adds up to a cumulative shortfall, since 2009, of $63.8 million for a bridge that was supposed to pay itself off in 30 years.

TransLink spokesman Ken Hardie concedes the projected traffic on the Golden Ears Bridge has levelled off, partly because drivers are seeking “free alternatives” such as the Port Mann Bridge, even though they have to go out of their way to access it.

An initial traffic and revenue study completed in 2004 forecast significantly higher traffic and revenues than have materialized.

“We have seen traffic volumes on the bridge plateau,” Hardie said. “We expected them to be higher.”

The reluctance of commuters to pay tolls comes as work continues on the new 10-lane $3.3-billion Port Mann Bridge, scheduled to open in 2013, which will also rely on tolls to help cover costs. Plans to charge tolls on a new Pattullo Bridge, being built by TransLink, are being reconsidered after the provincial government recently recommended a refurbishment of the existing bridge instead of replacement.

Hardie said TransLink plans to launch a marketing campaign to get more people using the Golden Ears Bridge, saying once the Port Mann is tolled, they will probably realize the Golden Ears crossing is a more efficient and convenient crossing.

He wouldn’t say what the marketing plan would entail, but TransLink said last year it was looking at options such as lowering tolls during certain times of the day to get more non-commuters — such as truckers and service providers — using the crossing.

“What we want to do is ensure the bridge is fulfilling its function in the transportation system,” Hardie said, adding “We knew our contribution [to the Golden Ears Bridge] would be front-end loaded and we would be subsidizing while the toll revenue caught up.”

tiffiant

TransLink relies on the revenue from tolls plus a $5.2-million annual subsidy redirected from the now-closed Albion Ferry, to make its monthly payments, but the revenue is falling behind the debt payments. TransLink documents say the main monthly payment to Golden Crossing will increase from $3 million to $4 million in July 2011. The transportation authority is also on the hook for $166 million — up to $14 million a year — in direct financing costs for property acquisition, toll equipment, project development and third-party commitments.

The Port Mann Bridge, which is being built by the provincial government to connect with its Gateway Project, will accommodate rapid bus service, expanded cycling and pedestrian lanes and a possible light rail line. The tolls, to be in place for 40 years, will rise with inflation but will be capped at 2.5 per cent annually.

Public-transit users using the new bridge are expected to be able to get from Langley to a SkyTrain station in Burnaby in 23 minutes.

But Anthony Perl, professor of Urban Studies at SFU, predicts the Port Mann Bridge — along with the Golden Ears Bridge — will become “white elephants we’ll be stuck paying for.”

He argues the Port Mann Bridge is built “for a future that will not come to pass,” noting that more people are working from home or taking transit and even the goods moving may shrink or move to Prince Rupert, where goods can be shipped more cheaply by rail rather than truck.

“We will have a [Port Mann] bridge that will have a lot of extra pavement because it’s based on the assumption everyone will be driving everywhere all the time,” Perl said.

When both the Port Mann and Golden Ears bridge continue to perform below their expectations, he said, TransLink will look at raising tolls, but this will just get people looking for other routes, such as the Pattullo.

“We need more sustainable mobility and driving around in fossil-fuelled vehicles is not sustainable,” he said. “There’s no rails on that bridge; that would have been a good idea.”

Meanwhile, TransLink is still searching for buyers for its two Albion ferries, which were shut down when the Golden Ears Bridge opened in the summer of 2009.

tiffiant

Metro Vancouver taxpayers are expected to be on the hook for another $33 million in costs for the Golden Ears Bridge this year, because fewer drivers than expected are using the region’s first tolled crossing.

fm9610

回復 3# tiffiant

Easy fix is to toll every bridge => No more alternatives and guarantee user pay!

peter236

What a waste of money for showing off the bridge?