In a Saltwire op-ed column, Dr. Tom Urbaniak, a Cape Breton University political science professor, explains why Nova Scotia Premier and Progressive Conservative Party leader Tim Houston’s campaign pledge to eliminate tolling of two Halifax bridges is “bad public policy” that “won’t make a dent in resolving any problem.”
Echoing the objections of some transportation experts, Dr. Urbaniak notes that toll elimination would cost the province CAD 40 million to 50 million in tax revenue each year, a “significant accumulated hit” to a provincial budget that is “already in deficit.” The public expenditure would transfer the burden of paying for the bridges’ operation and upkeep from users to taxpayers, some of whom “can seldom afford to travel to Halifax.” Dr. Urbaniak adds that the cost shifting is unlikely to result in significant traffic congestion reduction, which is the primary rationale for Houston’s proposal.
Dr. Urbaniak also raises an important new issue concerning responsibility for management of the Macdonald and MacKay Bridges. Halifax Harbour Bridges (HHB), an entirely-toll-financed public corporation, operates the span through a staff trained and dedicated to overseeing major suspension bridges. Urbaniak wonders what Houston proposes to do with HHB after its sole source of revenue is eliminated. He asks, “Will it be merged into the arguably less-effective provincial Department of Public Works?” And, if that’s the case, would the new overseers have sufficient focus, funding, and expertise to handle the specialized tasks associated with bridge operations?