Road pricing needs referendum: BC Premier
Posted October 6, 2015 6:23 pm.
Last Updated October 6, 2015 6:25 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) – Metro Vancouver mayors are exploring a new way to fund its transportation wish list, but the premier says no wishes will be granted without another referendum. The Mayors’ Council on Regional Transportation has voted to study mobility pricing.
Mayors are struggling to find a way to fund much needed transportation projects without increasing the provincial sales tax. The plebiscite on that fix failed earlier this spring. Road pricing could involve charging drivers based on how far they go or just slapping tolls on all the bridges and tunnels.
Christy Clark says no scheme like this can go ahead without another public vote.
“Transportation legislation clearly says if the mayors want a new source of funding, a new one, in addition to the sources they already have, they will need to go to referendum. I think it’s the right thing to do to ask people.”
Clark says they’ve been able to fund other projects like new schools and hospitals without having to go to citizens for more money and transportation should be able to do the same.
It cost over $5 million to administer the transportation plebiscite on a possible sales tax increase in the spring.
