Something tells me we're going to become much more familiar with the term road pricing in the months and years ahead.
There's no denying the Lower Mainland's transportation network is a complex web, but what is rather simple is the fact the current wish list of transit and road improvements outstrips the capability of the existing revenue streams. The result has been countless debates, proposals and, most notably, disagreements over how to extract more money from the pockets of the region's already beleaguered taxpayers.
These discussions invariably break down, often because a certain segment feels it's getting a raw deal, that it's not being treated fairly. These turf wars have become all too commonplace, to the point where they've paralyzed efforts to improve the way people move about Greater Vancouver.
After years of discord, it appears the notion of fairness is finally taking a more prominent role in discussions, which might, fingers crossed, actually result in an arrangement everyone can embrace.
We're talking about finding a way to dig deeper into your pocketbook, so I'm not convinced people will be happy about it, but if it's considered fair, then perhaps they can learn to live with it.
And that's where road pricing comes in. Loathe to toll existing infrastructure, politicians seem to be warming to the notion of charging drivers a certain amount for the privilege of travelling on roads they have already helped finance.
It's a philosophical shift from tolling only new crossings, and would take some getting used to for politicians as well as taxpayers, but given all the alternatives that have been looked at, it appears to be the fairest one.
It stands to reason those who put the greatest strain on the system, and those who are most likely to benefit from any improvements, should be the ones that pay the largest share of the tab.
Conversely, it doesn't make much sense for homeowners, who are an easy mark but don't necessarily tax the transportation network, to continually be gouged every time TransLink is in need of more cash.
There's much to be worked out when it comes to road pricing, and there will undoubtedly be resistance to the idea of paying to traverse roads that up to now have been free, but at the end of the day I suspect it will be the favoured option.
It's not a question of if, but how, they're going to extract more money from us, so they might as well do it in the fairest way possible.
