A decision by Vancouver City Council in Canada on whether to move forward with advanced planning on transport pricing — such as road tolls — into downtown Vancouver will be made in 2023, according to Daily Hive.
The publication reports that a recent internal memo by city staff states that the council will make a decision to refine the recommended transport pricing option sometime next year, after the October 2022 civic election.
According to Daily Hive, Vancouver City Council is expected to report back before the end of 2022 on stakeholder engagement and feedback, and feasibility study findings, before bringing forward further recommendations.
Following the update, the council in 2023 will develop transport pricing schemes that include potential boundaries and pricing, for public consultation and then consideration by Vancouver City Council.
If the council approves further planning in 2023, a final decision on implementing transport pricing would be made in 2024, after city staff make refinements to the scheme.
The form of transport pricing for vehicles entering and exiting the downtown Vancouver peninsula could be implemented in 2026 – a year later than initially proposed. The project toward implementation has four planning phases, starting with the current feasibility study.
Transport pricing was one of 32 projects within the Climate Emergency Action Plan (CEAP), which was approved by Vancouver City Council in November 2020.
At the time, it was estimated that it would carry a technology and installation cost of C$250m (£145m), which would be covered by between C$50m and C$80m (£29m and £46.5m) in annual net revenue after covering the capital and ongoing operating costs.
You can learn more about the key trends and challenges affecting senior decision-makers who have responsibility for tolling, intelligent transportation systems and road pricing at the 19th annual Road User Charging Conference in Brussels, Belgium on 04-05 May 2022. Visit www.roaduserchargingconference.co.uk for more information.
According to Daily Hive, in September 2021, the city contracted Mott MacDonald, Lucent Quay, and KI Squared as the consultant team for transport pricing’s first phase of planning work through spring 2022, which focuses on consulting with stakeholders, preparing an analysis of Vancouver’s transportation network, and preparing a “draft evaluation framework and ‘building blocks’” of transport pricing schemes.
The City of Vancouver has since signed a memorandum of understanding with TransLink on transport pricing, and is working on a partnership to include “a regional perspective for transport pricing for the city centre”.
City staff have also reached out to three North Shore municipalities and the provincial government, which carries the jurisdictional authority over road toll mechanisms.
In November and December 2021, city staff and the consultant team conducted about 80 interviews with stakeholder organisations — representing businesses, essential services, residents, tourism, and those who rely on private vehicles, active transportation, and public transit for work — to gather their priorities, interests, and concerns.
A series of stakeholder workshops will be held in January and February 2022, followed by additional workshops or interviews with other stakeholders in March and April.
A debate on Vancouver City Council’s CEAP decision in November 2020 largely focused on the potential for transport pricing.
At the time, the road tolls proposal for the city centre was heavily criticised by business groups – given concerns on the impact to businesses, especially with the expected years-long Covid-19 economic fallout – and municipal government and regional leaders.
There have also been concerns that revenues collected by the City of Vancouver through its municipal road tolls scheme would siphon significant revenue from a possible future regional mobility pricing system intended to help fund TransLink’s operating and expansion costs.
With an accelerating shift towards EVs, the public transit authority is in need of new revenue sources that replace shrinking fuel tax revenues.
