Is road pricing the answer to traffic congestion?

Metro Vancouver should implement a road pricing strategy to combat traffic congestion, according to a report prepared for the B.C. Business Council.

Author Jonathan Arnold says the concept of road pricing has worked elsewhere and should be seriously considered here.

Road pricing can include:

• Distance based pricing: the more you drive, the more you pay.
• Area-based pricing, such as charging motorists to enter areas like Vancouver's downtown core.
• Tolling of roads and bridges.

According to the report, traffic congestion continues to worsen despite the fact municipalities in Metro Vancouver have increased per capita spending on transportation by 34 per cent since 2000.

It goes on to say reducing congestion on our roads will boost employment, improve air quality and reduce the cost of goods transported by truck.

Arnold completed the report as his Masters thesis project for the School of Public Policy at SFU shortly after his co-op term at the council, and it was posted on the B.C. Business Council website last November.

The provincial government is still negotiating the terms of a referendum with Metro Vancouver mayors that will determine how TransLink's infrastructure will be funded.