Mobility pricing is a way to price the use of roads, much like transit users pay fares per ride. Sometimes called congestion pricing or road pricing, mobility pricing generally offers cities and regions a set of fee-related tools to encourage a shift toward sustainable modes of transport and raise funds for new investment.

Metro Vancouver’s TransLink is a leader in North America – they are undergoing significant analysis on how mobility pricing could be implemented to meet regional goals. Mobility pricing as a concept is relatively new to the Canadian context, and Access served as part of a consultant team tasked with analyzing the important impacts of a variety of pricing mechanisms.

Access provided guidance and analysis on two main topics: land use and equity impacts of mobility pricing in Metro Vancouver. Our team developed methods to tackle these important questions with available information. Looking at potential land use impacts, our team developed scenarios related to aggregation of density around urban centres in response to different pricing mechanisms. To analyze potential equity impacts, our team worked closely with the client on determining a regional understanding of equity and reviewing cross-cutting impacts related to housing affordability, pricing of distance-based trips related to demographic landscape considerations, and impacts on the transportation cost burden for lower income individuals.

This work will not only benefit Metro Vancouver directly but contribute to knowledge development for jurisdictions throughout the world. It provides a leading example of a collaborative and equitable policy approaches to mobility pricing.