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No traffic slows down Port Mann Bridge earnings

> Multi-billion debt calls for new incentive

Aaron Guillen
Staff Reporter

 

rivers who have previously

been steered away from the
Port Mann Bridge due to tolls
might change their route in the
near future. The Transportation
Investment Corporation (TIC),
the company that runs the
bridge, has a new incentive.

In an attempt to bring back
customers after a depleting
revenue flow, the province will
offer a $10 credit to customers
who choose to switch from
printed bills to paperless
e-billing. Coincidentally,
mailed bills are among the
top costs for the company.

“We are trying to improve
efficiencies in our operations,
and one of the biggest costs is
mailing out paper bills,’ said Greg
Johnson, TIC spokesman to the
Vancouver Sun. “Some people
aren't aware we provide this
option [of electronic billing]

According to a press
release from TIC President and
CEO Irene Kerr, “The more
customers signed up for e-bills
keeps the system streamlined
and our operating costs low.’
The Crown corporation hopes
to salvage anywhere from
$500,000-750,000 with their $10
appeal, available until March 15.

”

Since the new Port Mann
Bridge opened back in 2012, it has
been losing money—and lots of
it. According to reports from the
province, $86 million was lost
in the past year, with continued
deficit predictions of $100 million
annually for the next 3 years.

Understandably, big
projects such as these take
a few years to break even,
but new reports suggest that
the toll bridge might take as
long as 12-15 years to do so.
Comparatively, 2012 predictions

predicted revenue surpassing
debt within the first 5 years.
“Our plan has always been
to post a loss in the early years,”
said Greg Johnson, spokesman
for the TIC, to the Vancouver Sun.
“It’s something expected when
you start a toll operation. [But]
the period of time for traffic to
come back to the Port Mann is
longer than we anticipated.”
Obviously, tolls on the Port
Mann have decreased traffic
flow, but the end-goal to reduce
vehicles on the road and increase

ridership on transit has been met
with the disbursement of drivers
across the Metro Vancouver area.
According to TransLink data, the
number of daily crossings on the
Pattullo Bridge has increased
from an estimated 65,000 to
85,000. While Premier Christy
Clark remains optimistic on
the growing use of the bridge,
local mayors are honking the
horn on the need for an open
discussion to address road
pricing across Metro Vancouver.
“We do need to look at it,”

 

Cote said to the Vancouver Sun.
“What you're seeing is the Port
Mann not getting the revenues
they're looking for, and New
Westminster is seeing the traffic
congestion that is better suited
to a new highway network.
With the new Massey Bridge
and the Pattullo, we’re better
off having that discussion now
instead of sticking our heads

in the sand and pretending

we don't have a problem.”

Photo by BC’s Transportation Investment Corperation

Convicted serial killer Robert Pickton releases memoir

> Amazon faces public backlash for selling the book

Rebecca Peterson
Staff Writer

 

amilies of victims murdered

by Robert Pickton were
shocked when the serial killer’s
self-penned memoir showed up
for sale online this past week.

Pickton: In His Own Words
was apparently smuggled
by another prisoner out of
the prison where Pickton is
currently incarcerated, and
published through an American
self-publishing service called
Outskirts Press on January 29. On
February 2, it became available
for purchase on Amazon.ca.
Ricky Papin, brother of

Georgina Papin— who went
missing in 1999 and was later
discovered to be one of Pickton’s
victims— expressed his anger
and shock ina statement to
the press last Wednesday.

“People make money off
of violence and other people’s
crimes,” said Papin, according
to CBC News, “and Amazon
is in there fora profit.”

The publisher quickly halted
production after news of the
book’s release was met with
public outrage. After a petition
signed by more than 50,000
people demanded that the book
was pulled, Amazon removed the
book from its sale listings, and
it can no longer be purchased.

The book itself is 144 pages
long, according to the Vancouver
Sun, and contains references to
the Bible, transcripts of police
interviews, and multiple claims
of innocence. During Pickton’s
trial, however, the prosecution
stated that Pickton had confessed
to 49 murders to an undercover
police officer, a statement
that played a large role in his

eventual conviction in 2007.

“Tt is not right that a person
who caused so much harm and
hurt so many people could profit
from his behaviour,” said the
BC Minister for Public safety,
Mike Morris, in a statement.

Papin echoed the
sentiment to CBC: “If anyone
is going to profit from it, it
should be the children and
the families themselves, or
go to victim services.”

Outskirts Press also made
a statement on the matter,
saying “We have a long-
standing policy of not working
with, nor publishing work by,
incarcerated individuals.” The
publisher claims that they were
tricked into publishing the
book by Michael Chilldres.

Chilldres, the man who
produced Pickton’s memoir,
took Pickton’s story from a

handwritten scrawl to a full

autobiography. Chilldres

claimed that he published it

as a favour for a friend, who

is a convicted sex offender

who met Pickton in prison.
The matter of how the

manuscript was smuggled out

 

of prison in the first place is
now the subject of an ongoing
investigation. Presumably,
the manuscript was sent out
through the mail, as Canadian
inmates don’t receive regular
screening for their mail,
unlike American prisoners.

Image via thestar.com