No More Bridge Tolls....John Horgan's Election Winner Explained(updated August 25th/2017)

UPDATED here.....John Horgan has made the announcement(finally)Tolls officially come off as of September 1st/2017...the below post, posted on April 10/2017....was actually written months earlier than April 10..it was written in early March/2017.....and only read by a few in the Orange Party

A couple of things I would like to add, removing tolls has other net benefits...GHG emissions will be reduced, drivers and especially big trucks won't be driving around the tolls.....The environment wins....and finally the Golden ears bridge will see full utilization, ...Golden Ears bridge has been described as a empty parking lot, and it's true...MapleRidgers won't be driving around that bridge anymore anymore, truckers won't be clogging up the free pattulo bridge...overall traffic congestion will ease, free-moving traffic....and yes, the now eliminated toll revenue is not lost, most if not all of that money will flow back into the economy, thus creating jobs.....consumers will travel further afield with toll removal.....there are those who will argue the bridges still have to be paid for, true....however, no one can argue that the previous toll structure was grossly unfair......Below...my April 10/2017 post..

Why toll removal is the right thing to do

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No More Bridge Tolls....John Horgan's Election Winner Explained

John Horgan with a stroke of brilliance....The removal of the BC Liberal's unfair bridge tolling debacle..

First off...The Port Mann bridge and Golden Ears bridge have both been losing $millions of dollars every year....Treo, and TI will continue losing money and will require government bailouts...FACT

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The Port Mann Bridge continues to lose money faster than originally projected but the government insists the crossing is still on target to pay for itself.

"What hasn't changed is our commitment to pay off this bridge by 2050," said Transportation Minster Todd Stone.

Financial projections released as part of the 2017 B.C. budget reveal the Port Mann will lose $88 million in 2016-17, $90 million in 2017-18, and $86 million in each of the following two years.

The government initially promised the bridge would become profitable five years after it opened — in other words sometime this year.

But the expected traffic never materialized. Drivers diverted to the Patullo and Alex Fraser bridges to avoid paying the Port Mann toll, causing revenue projections for the bridge to be sharply scaled back.

The Transportation Investment Corporation says the Port Mann is now expected to turn a profit 10 to 15 years from now.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/port-mann-losing-money-1.3997710

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The cost of running Treo(Golden Ears Bridge) and TI(Port Mann Corporation) is in the 10's of million every year, plus the cost of cameras, counters, billing and government red tape means that down the road both the Golden Ears bridge and Port Mann will require a government bailout...Port Mann bridge debt is growing by $100 million per year....Port Mann debt, 5 years ago was $3.1 billion..today it's almost $3.7 billion....Port Mann bridge is bailout bound..

Removing tolls will put almost all the toll money collected back into the economy, that will in turn create jobs, more people will go out for dinner, catch a movie, have money for a BC vacation....elimination of tolls will create thousands of jobs...

Removing bridge tolls for people south of the fraser will also bring back a sense of fairness...Sea to sky highway has government paid shadow tolls...skiers get a free sea to sky highway ride, Kelowna has new FREE bridges...why was the workingclass Fraser Valley and Surrey targeted while rich West Vancouvers get free bridges, free highways...John Horgan with a stroke of a pen will bring back fairness...

The removal of bridge tolls will result in more housing starts in the Fraser Valley, that will in turn grow community, and once again..that means more BC jobs..

And most importantly...with the removal of tolls traffic will freely flow, in its natural course, only after tolls are removed can we as a community actually see where transit and traffic moving infrastructure is really required....

The old argument about using tolls to force people onto public transit....therein lies the rub, the BC Liberal government has refused for over a decade to put fast-rapid bus service over the Port Mann and Golden Ears bridges...the reason is obvious...A bridge requiring more and more traffic to pay for itself..Government was reluctant if not even hostile over putting high-speed rapid transit over bridges because the better the transit the fewer people will be driving over bridges paying tolls...The two items clashed..

With John Horgan removing bridge tolls traffic will flow its natural course, ..without being held hostage by the cameras collecting plate numbers the new BC NDP Government can put real transit over these bridges, a goal to move people and goods without fear of hurting toll revenue..

As for Christy Clark promising a $500 dollar toll cap.....Christy Clark and her gang of scofflaws are really that stupid...They have just admitted that their polling policy is a complete failure..which it is..TREO and TI are both losing money....a $500 dollar tolling cap, again..it picks winners and losers...A person who only occasionally drives over the tolled bridges gets no relief until $500 dollars are spent, for the casual bridge user means no relief is coming..Period.....for the driver that is spending $2000 per year on tolls, his/her savings are substantial.....think about that, the person who only occasionally uses the bridge gets no relief and pays full rate, the person who is using the toll bridges heavily and causes wear n tear on said bridges gets financial relief....It is BC Liberal policy made up on the fly...tolls?..part tolls?..reduced tolls? ete etc....Christy Clark and Gordon Campbell's tolls are a bad fiscal policy......a proven failure!...BC Liberals bragged of their toll bridges now they try feebly to make the toll pain they inflicted go away....in no uncertain words...BC Liberals by their actions are admitting their tolling policy is fatally flawed.....Christy Clark wanting praise for lowering her government's tolls.....Hypocrisy at its finest!

How to pay for the bridges...First off..all the equipment and government employees being paid to monitor, collect and maintain tolls costs $10's of million per year...That expense vanishes with the tolls...with the public not paying anymore tolls that money will flow back out into the economy and create jobs...

Future Federal carbon tax increases that Justin Trudeau announced can be directed to go 100% towards people moving infrastructure...after-all...Trudeau did say provincial governments could direct revenue from future federal carbon tax increases to any provincial program they wanted...

The Port Mann bridge should have never been tolled to begin with..it's a national highway...Trudeau and the Feds can pay a portion of the Port Mann bridge upkeep and maintenance.....

Lastly...the point being...Bridge tolls south of the fraser has forced 100,000's of drivers to drive around tolled bridges, take longer commutes because of money, because tolls are not affordable to average workers...

Christy Clark's $3.5 billion dollar Massey bridge proposal....her capped toll scheme would never pay that Massey Bridge cost...it would turn into another BC Liberal boondoggle in the making...another bridge in need of a bailout..

Gas taxes...there is enough money in the system to pay for needed upgrades to BC infrastructure....

What isn't needed is a pet projects of the vain, such as a $4 billion dollar Massey bridge and a $4 billion dollar 11 kilometer subway to get students to UBC(BC developers wetdream sucky..)

We need light rail in Surrey...we need Light Rail along side Highway number 1 all the way to Chilliwack...these transit measures would take thousands of cars off those bridges...

With tolls eliminated transit can be built where it's needed, with no worry of cutting into toll revenue..

BC Liberals failed on bridges, their tolling policy is grossly unfair....

And yes...BC Liberal cheerleading media and the BC Liberals will grunt and snort about where the money will come from to pay for toll elimination..

Let em snort and choke......Where is Site C dam money?.ain't there, no business case...Run of river IPPs are bleeding BC Hydro dry....BC Place is bleeding money($800 million dollar defective roof)...BC Ferries is bleeding money(gas guzzling underperforming crappy German built ferries) ...BC Hydro is broke(run of river longterm contracts, smart meter boondoggle and $15 billion dollar site C disaster)..ICBC is broke(BC Liberals raked operating money out of the public insurer to claim balanced budget).....

Funny stuff....Big BC media and the BC Liberals never talk about where the money is going to come from to pay those BC Liberal bills...

Where the hell is all the money for those BC Liberal boondoggles.....?

I'm glad John Horgan and the NDP are going to be spending a few dollars to help real working-class people,

Corporations and BC Liberal donors have been making out like bandits long enough....

Great move by Premier to be John Horgan..

Respect and Fairness returning to B.C. after a long hiatus....

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Here is the first of many emails between John Horgan and me*Grant G)

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Mon, Mar 6, 2017 8:38 am

Grant Go (grant.go@aol.com)To:john.horgan.mla Details

Hello John...Brian G here...The Straight Goods...Do you want to win the election? Need a game changer? 

"Daily traffic on the Port Mann varied in 2016, from a low of an average of 103,000 drivers last January to a high of 140,400 in August. The old Port Mann Bridge averaged 127,000 drivers daily. At three per cent annual growth, the amount of vehicle traffic would more than double by 2050.

The B.C. government’s optimism for the future stands in stark contrast to the Port Mann’s current, sobering, financial statements. The bridge earned $145 million in toll revenue last year, which was quickly eaten up by $142 million in interest costs on the debt, $38 million in operating expenses and $53 million in depreciation, leaving an $88 million net loss"

http://www.theprovince.com/news/local+news/port+mann+bridge+break+even+until+2025/13012035/story.html

Do you see that......Port Mann brought in 145 million in toll revenue...Golden Ears bridge brought in a fraction of that...all totaled, tolls brought in roughly $200 million dollars(Port Mann and Golden Ears bridges)

That is a drop in the bucket.....just imagine if the tolls were eliminated?...BC Guv would have to pony up the $200 million, maybe $300 million and actually start paying down debt...But think what would happen if the tolls were eliminated....First off, traffic flows would revert to back, toll jumpers/toll evaders would take the more efficient traffic route...traffic on Pattulo bridge would fall, likewise on the Alex Fraser..congestion in the tunnel would be ease too..

But more importantly, traffic would flow better.....even better, those paying thousands of $dollars each year would spend that money on food, restaurants, new TVs, etc etc etc....All that toll money would flow into the economy, that would create jobs, it would also create fairness, those who are tolled against those who aren't..(no toll on Sea to Sky highway)....

It would also drive more potential homebuyers to the valley, Surrey, Langley, Cloverdale, Chilliwack.....

The BC Government can afford to eat the loss of toll money...

Also, a small fortune would be saved by eliminating the Port Mann corporation, the collecting toll infrastructure, cameras and counters..

Times 2...another set of toll collecting infrastructure for Golden Ears bridge....Translink pays the Golden Ears bridge tolls...Translink would realize savings too...

Removing the tolls would reduce red tape(port mann corporation and golden ears bridge..Treo).....Removing tolls would ease traffic everywhere....removing tolls would help the overall economy, that money spent on tolls will flow into the economy...removing tolls will bring a sense of fairness back to road driving, and fairness as to where one lives....

Lastly....Removing the tolls will win you Maple Ridge riding.....Mission riding...and a few more Surrey ridings....it will garner votes in Burnaby, New Westminster, Vancouver....a win win win.....Making John Horgan Premier of B.C....

Yes, the BC Liberals will squeak and scream about the cost to government..so what, the tolling experiment has been a failure..

Counter the argument with..growing the economy, restoring traffic flows to historic norms, reducing traffic on the free crossing, ..creating jobs, creating fairness...

$300 million is nothing John Horgan..if you want to find a way to pay for this election promise(I don't recommend paying for it with new fee)...how about a 1 cent per litre tax on on fuel, a dedicated fund for bridges and bridge replacement?...

Personally I would not add a cost.....run on fairness, on reducing traffic on free crossings...on putting more money into the economy..run on people buying homes south of the Fraser who work in Vancouver....., John, you will be puting over $2000.00 back in the pockets of those ply those toll bridges, or more....

Call me.......cell phone...

This is a winner idea John Horgan....And the present tolling structure is an unfair loser...

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That is the actual email above....I removed my phone numbers for privacy reasons....So, who is the author of the 2017 toll elimination election gambit....Grant G is.....100% accurate, to a tee...including which ridings he would gain.......John Horgan did phone me, right after the Comox final recount...Horgan called to personally thank me for bringing him to power.....

The Straight Goods

Cheers Eyes Wide Open