Oregon Public Broadcasting

Commuters on I-5 caught a glimpse  Wednesday of the possible tolling plans for the proposed Columbia River bridge.
As Kristian Foden-Vencil reports, there’s definitely going to be a toll, it’s just a question of how much, where and when.

The new bridge is going to cost about $4 billion. So it’s not really surprising that planners are looking at a toll to pay for a third of it -- as was the case with the original 1917 bridge.

But what is surprising is that paying for the bridge is only part of the reason for the toll.

Government agencies hope it will reduce traffic, curb pollution and reduce congestion.

Columbia River Crossing spokeswoman, Casey Cooper, says they’ve been running different price models with tolls from $1 to $7.50.

They’re also looking at the effects of tolling just the I-5 bridge or adding the 205 as well.

Casey Cooper: “We have run a few scenarios at different toll rates for a couple of reasons. One we want to see what kinds of revenue it would generate and secondly we want to see what will happen with traffic. Because people will change their travel patterns based on they want to avoid a toll. So they may choose, if we toll the I-5 bridge, they may chose to shift to the 205 bridge. They may chose to stall their trip and go at a different time, or not make the trip at all, or use alternative transportation like transit. ”

Cooper says  there are two other things under consideration as well.

Casey Cooper: “The first is that we’re looking at variable tolling. Which means that the price of your toll will depend upon the time that you travel across the bridge. So during rush hour it my cost more. And it may be less during the off-peak hours ... The second is that it’s all electronic tolling. That means that you don’t have to slow down there’s not going to be toll booths. That will keep traffic moving, so your trip will become more reliable.”

Cooper says commuters will carry a small card in their car. It will register on electronic transponders during each trip and drivers will receive a bill.

Public meetings to discuss tolling are scheduled for Tuesday and Wednesday next week.

They’ll be attended by the heads of transportation for both Oregon and Washington.