FEES & TAXES * Canada - TransLink looks to shippers, truckers to pay for transit work

While a container tax is the idea floating around, TransLink might attempt to collect the fee from ports (and their trucker clients) in some other form/span>

Vancouver,BC,CAN -Today's Trucking -3 April 2009: -- A TransLink plan to tax every freight container that moves in and out of B.C. coastal ports is being aggressively fought by shippers and retailers... TransLink -- the provincial agency responsible for the Lower Mainland's road infrastructure and transit system -- is desperately looking for new revenue streams to make up for a funding shortfall. The agency needs the money primarily to fund a major public transit expansion, reports the Surrey Delta Leader... While the container fee has yet to be determined, the paper reports that a $20 charge per standardized container is under consideration... However, neither TransLink nor the province has the authority to collect the fee. Federal support would be required...