Regardless of what happens after the confidence vote on Victoria Thursday afternoon, both the BC NDP and the BC Liberals say they’ll scrap bridge tolls.
So the question on people’s minds is: what happens to the dozens of employees who work for the company that manages tolling operations on the Port Mann Bridge, and the two relatively new buildings that house them?
The Transportation Investment Corporation (TI Corp), the Crown Corporation that implemented and manages TREO tolling operations for the bridge, has two offices.
One is a multi-level head office in a fairly new building near the north side of the Port Mann Bridge, and the other is a smaller one at the south end of the bridge.
Employees in the Surrey office said they’re “holding their breath,” and have been ever since the NDP said it was doing away with tolls.
“It seems like a waste to me,” said one of the people pulling up to pay their bills.
“You get rid of the tolls now all the motorists are happy but now you’ve got people who are out of a job and buildings which are empty and we’ve just come back to the same situation,” said another.
Also unclear is what will happen to drivers who have outstanding bills if the tolls are scrapped as promised?
That remains to be seen, but could become clear in coming days.