5 replies to this topic

[mikest2]

It's now $20 cheaper for Lower mainlanders to ski/ride the Okanagan. It's also $20 cheaper to take my daughter to IKEA (swedish for junk)

[Ontariodude]

Whats the reason for the removal of tolls? I remember going on that highway several years ago; saved some time versus the Trans-Canada.

[mikest2]

Ontariodude, on Sep 28 2008, 06:26 PM, said:

Whats the reason for the removal of tolls? I remember going on that highway several years ago; saved some time versus the Trans-Canada.

I would like to think the tolls were removed because the highway is now paid for, or to strengthen the tourism industry, or to save costs on commercial transportation, but I think it is just political posturing (provincial)

........mike

[Andoman]

mikest2, on Sep 28 2008, 09:32 PM, said:

I would like to think the tolls were removed because the highway is now paid for, or to strengthen the tourism industry, or to save costs on commercial transportation, but I think it is just political posturing (provincial)

........mike

Usually toll authorities "lease" the road from the local state government in exchange for cash. The leases have a fixed time frame and during that time they have to complete all of the necessary road upkeep. Sometimes the toll authorities find out it's a bad deal and choose not to renew a lease, the state government choose not to renew the lease, the toll authority when bankrupt, or the state government had a surplus of cash and purchased the remaining portion of the lease. It is possible the local tourism industry is subsidizing the toll road.

[mikest2]

Actually this one was run by the government, and when it was built we were told that the tolls would come off when it was paid for. The announcement said that it was within a few million of being paid off.

Andoman, on Sep 29 2008, 03:55 PM, said:

Usually toll authorities "lease" the road from the local state government in exchange for cash. The leases have a fixed time frame and during that time they have to complete all of the necessary road upkeep. Sometimes the toll authorities find out it's a bad deal and choose not to renew a lease, the state government choose not to renew the lease, the toll authority when bankrupt, or the state government had a surplus of cash and purchased the remaining portion of the lease. It is possible the local tourism industry is subsidizing the toll road.

[Ontariodude]

"In 2003, Premier Gordon Campbell announced that his Liberal government was going to turn over the operation and maintenance of the Coquihalla, as well as the toll revenue, to a private operator. The public and numerous businesses in the interior of British Columbia were strongly opposed to this plan, so the provincial government shelved it three months after its announcement."

from Wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia....umbia_Highway_5

It looks as if the government wanted to get rid of it. A cost cutting measure I'm guessing