Expect more semi-trucks on Port Mann, Golden Ears due to toll removal

Hate being stuck behind a semi-truckon the highway? If you regularly use the Port Mann bridge, you better start getting used to it.

Following the elimination of bridge tolls on Sept. 1, experts say drivers can expect a lot more truckers on major roadways, particularly the Port Mann bridge.

"It's going to make a dramatic change in terms of truck traffic," said Ken Denike, a University of British Columbiaprofessor andtransportation planner behind Translink's SkyTrain projects.

• Tolls to be eliminated on Port Mann and Golden Ears bridges

When tolls were first implemented afterthe new Port Mann bridge opened in 2012,Denike says west-bound truck traffic instantly diverted from Highway 1onto roads south of the Fraser River.

He said owner-operatortruckers who pay out-of-pocket for tolls found roundabout ways over the river, funnelling through both PattuloBridge and the Alex Fraser.

According to the B.C. NDP's recent announcement to eliminate tolls,commercial truck drivers will no longer have to pay bridge tolls, which isexpected to save them asmuch as $4,500 or more per year.

Denike says the impact on congestion will be noticeable immediately.

"The truck traffic will generally take up the slower lanes, but if it's around rush hour I think it's going to clog it up real quick."

TransLink, provincemonitoring traffic

According to the province, the cameras on the two bridges will remain intact for the time being to help observe how traffic responds. A representative from TransLink said it will still take time to determine how exactly the region will be affected.

For commuter Craig Cherlet,the benefits will be noticeable. Cherlot expects to save as much as $1,200 per year as he commutes daily from his home in Maple Ridge to work in Vancouver.

"Everybody knows Vancouver is super expensive, so every time we get to save money it gets to be put towards something else like my kid's taekwon do lessons," he said.

But questions still linger as to how the province will make up for the $132 million inlostrevenue, and still pay off the remaining debt from the Port Mann's construction.

Poor politics by NDP?

The NDP government has said little about implementing road pricing direct charges levied to a vehicle for road use to offset lost revenue, but it appears to be an option that is being considered.

• Taxing gridlock: Vancouver looks to Singapore, Stockholm for congestion fix

A mobility pricing commission is currently working throughout Metro Vancouver to determine how the region might benefit from road usage charges.The group will be making recommendations to inform municipal and provincial decision makers next year on how to reduce congestion.

According to UBC Professor in Sustainable Transport Lawrence Frank, the NDP's decision to drop tolls before having a sound road pricing system in place may come back to haunt the government.

"Once you remove a tax, adding new ones are always more difficult," said Frank. "By removing the tolling, you put yourself in a situation where you have to go through the political pain of instituting something new."

"I just don't think it's going to be easy to institute that."