Port Mann/Highway 1 Improvement Project

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About Tolling

In order to pay for the new Port Mann Bridge and associated highway widening from Vancouver to Langley, an electronic toll will be in place for vehicles crossing the new bridge.  This toll will only be implemented once eight lanes on the new bridge are open to traffic, double the westbound capacity of the current bridge, and additional lanes are available to traffic on either side of the bridge. These improvements are expected to provide travel time savings as high as 30%.

TOLL COLLECTION

The toll will be in place to pay for the cost of the PMH1 Project, including the new bridge and highway and interchange improvements. The tolls collected will not be directed to Provincial Government general revenues, but will be collected by the Transportation Investment Corporation (TI Corp) and be used to pay directly for the costs of the project. 

TI Corp operates under an agreement with the Province of British Columbia known as the Concession Agreement (CA). The CA puts into place the powers required for TI Corp to implement the project. Once the project is paid for, the tolls will be removed. This is expected to take approximately 40 years. The CA authorizes TI Corp to collect tolls for a period not to exceed 40 years.

How the Toll was Developed

The tolling framework was developed following an extensive public consultation process undertaken by the province in 2006. The majority of the consultation participants, over 56 per cent, supported a proposed toll on the Port Mann Bridge. Support increased to 70 per cent and higher for a toll combined with options that provide reduced tolls for HOV users, variable tolls for off‐peak periods, and other traffic management tools.

In accordance with these results, a tolling framework was developed to promote HOV use and to encourage heavy trucks and large commercial vehicles to travel outside of peak times. The framework was developed based on the principles of ease of use, superior customer service, convenience and fairness, and to allow all users to pay the lowest possible (base) toll rate.