Getting Around Metro Vancouver: A Closer Look at Mobility Pricing and Fairness

In Metro Vancouver, congestion-induced delays are the norm on the region’s roads and bridges. Congestion problems will only steadily worsen due to a growing population and with every additional car added to the region’s roads. Expansion of public transit is widely seen as essential to ensure accessible mobility, but progress has been slow. Paying for transportation in Metro Vancouver Mobility pricing is based on the principle that users pay for what they use, taking away the illusion of free roads. Newer forms of mobility pricing would shift the way we pay for driving on Metro Vancouver’s roads and/or bridges. This is envisioned as both a long-term replacement for fuel tax revenues, which are anticipated to decline as the number of electric vehicles increases, as well as a source of revenue to support the expansion of transit services and infrastructure in the region. In Metro Vancouver, transportation is paid through a mix of user fees (transit fares, fuel taxes, and until recently, tolls on two bridges) and public subsidies (property taxes, BC Hydro levy, transfers from other levels of government). This report explains that mobility pricing is one solution to Metro Vancouver’s transportation challenges.

Publication Date: 
2018
Publisher(s): 
Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives
Location: 
Vancouver, BC, Canada