The Port Mann toll is being announced as we blog this, but the details look like this:

• The toll for an average car will be $3, beginning in December 2012, when the Bridge fully opens
• However, the introductory rate for all average cars will be $1.50 until February 28, 2013
• If you register your car (i.e. get a decal and/or update your Golden Ears Bridge QuickPass account) before November 30, 2012, you will get 20 free trips.
• If you register before February 28, 2013, you will get the introductory $1.50 rate for a full year (until December 2013)
• During that first year, a monthly unlimited pass will cost $75. If you take more than 50 trips across that bridge a month, that will be the best deal for you. This will increase to $150 after the first year
• Registered HOV lane users will get 25 per cent off the toll during rush hours
• Large trucks will get 50% discounts for using the Bridge between 9 pm and 5 am
• You can register as early as Monday. This will be online and at various government offices
• The QuickPass transponder can be used (if you add the Port Mann to your registration)—or do what I plan to do: get a Port Mann decal instead (it will also work with the Golden Ears) and take your QuickPass transponder back and save the monthly rental fee
• A bunch of people get freebies: first responder vehicles, people with disabilities, military, registered vanpools, etc.
• Unregistered users will pay $5.30 a crossing, unless they pay within seven days. Then it drops to $3. They can even do it by text message.

The system is geared toward getting users registered as quickly as possible.  The use of incentives will be very helpful in doing that, and they are a smart decision by government. The fact the grace period ends 10 weeks before the spring election should (but probably won’t) blunt criticism that this is political ploy.

So what do we think of the Port Mann toll? We have two major issues:

1. There is no regional equity in this. The Lower Mainland residents living south of the Fraser now have two toll bridges, while other areas with new/improved infrastructure have no tolls.

2. Lower Mainland drivers already pay $1 billion a year in gas taxes to Ottawa, Victoria and TransLink, and still we can’t get a bridge built without tolls. A small, corresponding decrease in the gas tax would have gone a long way to soothing already overtaxed drivers. Remember, these drivers pay the highest gas taxes in North America—49 cents per litre. Or better yet--kill the carbon tax and save us seven cents a litre at the pump!