Golden Ears Bridge traffic halved
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Updated: July 29, 2009 4:57 PM
Traffic on the new Golden Ears Bridge dropped almost in half after tolls took effect July 16.
TransLink says 258,000 vehicles crossed the week before tolling began and that dropped to 134,000 in the week after.
That’s a 52 per cent retention rate, says spokesman Ken Hardie, adding that’s better than the 40 to 50 per cent expected.
The proportion of motorists who have kept using the bridge now that they must pay was higher on weekdays – 55 per cent – versus 44 per cent on the weekend.
Hardie said that’s not a surprise, as many of the sight-seeing type trips in the first month when the bridge was free would have been on weekends.
“It looks like people are putting a value on their commute or business trips and that is obviously worth it to pay the toll and save the time,” he said.
Detailed data isn’t yet available on the accuracy of the electronic tolling system, but Hardie said it appears that so far the overhead cameras are able to obtain a licence plate number 99 per cent of the time and there’s also a high degree of accuracy when cars are equipped with a transponder.
He had no estimate of how many vehicles a day have out-of-province plates that aren’t currently billed or how many motorists might be trying various tactics to obscure the licence plate from view.
“There’s always going to be a few sharpies that try their best,” he said. “That’s when the police will step in and start ticketing people.”
Regular vehicles pay $2.75 to $3.90 depending on whether they have a transponder or not.
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