Port Mann Bridge lost $82.5M last year, new report says

The Port Mann Bridge is still operating at a loss even though more people are using the span, a new report shows.

The bridge showed a loss of $82.5 million for the fiscal year2015/2016, according to a report from theTransportation Investment Corporation, which operates the span.

It's an improvement from last year, when the bridge lost nearly $89million, the report says

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Greg Johnson, a spokesperson for the Transportation Investment Corporation,said the news is not all bad.

Despite the loss, the report said traffic on the bridge has increased by five per cent in the last year and revenue was $8 million higher than targeted.

"More and more drivers are choosing the Port Mann bridge everyday," Johnson said.

"In 2015-16, we saw about five or six per cent more drivers choose it over 2014. That's because it's safe, it's fast, it's reliable."

Tolls too high, says taxpayer group

However, one critic said he thinks toll prices aresteepand thinks the losses provide lessons for future bridge construction projects

"I think the toll is too high," saidJordan Bateman of the Canadian Taxpayers' Federation.

"I think people are struggling with the cost of living across the Lower Mainland," which may have affected traffic numbers on the bridge, Bateman said.

He suggested thatTransportation Investment Corporation a Crown corporation mightconsider introducing cheaper tolls for off-peak hours.

Figures from the provincial budget last spring showed the bridge is forecast to lose more money in the coming years, estimated at$102 million in 2016/17and $106 million in 2017/18.

In 2012,the provincial budgetprojected a$28.3 million loss on the bridge for 2014/2015.

The bridgeopened to traffic in September2012,and full toll rates were introduced in January2014. Those rates rose slightly in August2015 due to costs linked to building, operating, and maintaining the new span.

Tolls range from $1.60 for motorcycles, $3.15 for small vehicles toas high as $9.45 for large vehicles.

The Crown corporation says the bridge is still on track to be paid off by 2050.

With files from Anita Bathe