Three UBC professors weighed in on the possibility of decongestion charging, or road pricing in Metro Vancouver.
In an interview with CTV (11:09 mark), civil engineering professor Alex Bigazzi pointed to the increase in traffic on previously tolled bridges in Vancouver and said that showed that road charging does have a big influence on travel behaviour in a very short amount of time.
Patrick Condon, a professor of urban design at UBC’s school of architecture and landscape architecture, told the Vancouver Sun that while mobility pricing may make sense for other cities like London. the system isn’t the right fit for Metro Vancouver since the congestion is not in the downtown. The story also appeared in The Province.
UBC economist Werner Antweiler told Metro News mobility pricing will be difficult for drivers to accept if they don’t have viable alternatives.
