New Port Mann Bridge assumes more drivers will pay to cross
Despite growing evidence motorists will drive out of their way to avoid tolls, the provincial government is counting on many more drivers paying to cross the tolled Port Mann Bridge than it currently carries for free.
And if that optimistic forecast fails to materialize, the pricey project may gush red ink for years to come.
The new 10-lane bridge is expected to rake in $175 million in tolls in its first full year of operations in 2013, according to numbers tabled this month with the provincial budget.
That's based on a traffic forecast of 150,000 daily users paying tolls ` 20 per cent more than the 125,000 who crossed for free in 2007 and about seven per cent more than the 140,000 the bridge is expected to carry this year.
But even at that level, the Port Mann Bridge is expected to lose money because toll revenues won't yet match the province's annual costs of debt servicing and paying the private operators.
Read the full article
here.