Vancouver Could Toll Drivers Based On Distance

Photo courtesy Flickr user Valentina

Vancouver's transportation authority is mulling the concept of charging drivers coming into the city based on how far they go, a policy that, if instituted, would make the west coast metropolis the first in the world to do so.

According to the Abbotsford News, that approach differs from the congestion charges (or decongestion charges, as they're sometimes known) some cities around the world already levy against drivers who want to enter the city's core area.  

The report, prepared by the Mobility Pricing Independent Commission, calls out a few cities that have successfully used congestion charges to reduce traffic tie-ups. It says a charge instigated by Stockholm, Sweden in 2006 cut congestion by a third, while London, England reduced traffic by 20 percent in high-volume periods.

A survey conducted last year named Vancouver as the least driveable city in Canada.

A distance-based decongestion charge is a new concept that has yet to be tried anywhere in the world, but the commission's executive director, Daniel Firth, said the technology to make it possible is not far off. 

The commission's chair told the Abbotsford News that distance-based tolls would require some sort of vehicle or driver tracking, and that the privacy concerns surrounding that had come up in the commission's public consultations.

The Mobility Pricing Independent Commission will issue its final report in April.