Metro Vancouver motorists will face higher gas prices next spring if the region's mayors secure a two-cents-a-litre hike in the gas tax to build the $1.4-billion Evergreen Line.

West Vancouver Mayor Pamela Goldsmith-Jones, vice-chairwoman of the mayors' council on transportation, said mayors on Wednesday voted overwhelmingly in support of hiking the regional gas tax to help fund TransLink's $400-million contribution to the rapid transit line.

The province also supports the move, she said, noting B.C. Transportation Minister Blair Lekstrom has promised to introduce legislation this fall.

"We think there's a real spirit to work together," Goldsmith-Jones said. "Our expectation is the two-cents-a-litre gas tax will be able to fund [the Evergreen Line]."

The move, which would boost TransLink's share of the gas tax from 15 cents to 17 cents next spring, would generate $40 million in revenue and help cover the borrowing costs of

TransLink's capital contribution for the Evergreen Line, linking Burnaby, Port Moody and Coquitlam.

The mayors are also considering a vehicle levy or possibly a small increase in property taxes in 2013 to boost annual revenues to $70 million.

A vehicle tax was introduced in the late 1990s to help to finance Trans-Link when the agency was created by the provincial government. But after a huge public outcry against the $75-a-year levy on automobiles, then-NDP premier Ujjal Dosanjh backed away from it without providing other revenue sources, setting the scene for a decade of chronic financial shortfalls for TransLink.

The taxation proposals are part of TransLink's supplemental financial plan, which includes a raft of funding options to pay for transit projects, including the 11-kilometre Evergreen Line, major improvements to SkyTrain stations at Metrotown, Main Street, Surrey Central and New Westminster and the Lonsdale SeaBus terminal; a new B-Line along King George Highway from White Rock to Guildford; more bus routes in south Surrey and Langley; Highway 1 rapid transit from Langley to Lougheed station; and, road and cycling improvements.

TransLink is expected to put forward the funding plan to the mayors' council this fall after extensive public consultation, scheduled to start next week.

Goldsmith-Jones said she didn't know when work would begin on the Evergreen Line, which has been stalled since mayors last year refused to raise property taxes to come up with Trans-Link's share for the project.

Lekstrom said last week he expects ground could be broken this year, noting the province will issue a request for proposals from construction firms once the mayors come up with a way to pay. But he noted in a statement Wednesday that he will first wait to see what the public has to say about the proposals.

TransLink is accepting comments via its website, and will also hold a region-wide "webinar" -an Internetbased audio/video program providing full details of the plan at 7 p.m. on July 19.

Meanwhile, Goldsmith-Jones said the proposed plan has allowed the mayors to buy some time as they look for long-term funding solutions -such as road pricing and a regional carbon tax -for large projects like rapid transit lines in Surrey and the Broadway corridor to the University of B.C.

"We really feel a strong entire package has to be done ... and we don't want that to be through property taxes," she said.

The B.C. Chamber of Commerce supported the funding plan, saying the Evergreen Line and additional regional transportation infrastructure improvements "will be a boon for investment."

"Given the projected growth in the region, including road pricing into a direct traffic demand management system will be crucial," John Winter, president and CEO, said in a statement. "Road pricing allows for an element of choice for businesses and commuters which does not exist in either the gas tax or vehicle levy systems."

However, John Cummins, leader of the new BC Conservatives, argued the Liberal government was treating commuters like cash cows, noting raising the gas tax will make driving more expensive and penalize the hundreds of thousands of people have to drive every day to get to work, take their children to school and make a living.

"This new gas tax is yet another burden on drivers in the Lower Mainland who already pay the highest gas taxes in Canada," he said in a statement. "I believe the Evergreen Line is a good project, but I do not support how the Liberals are paying for it."

The Evergreen Line, which has been in the works since 1989, was supposed to be operational by 2014. The provincial and federal governments have committed $410 million and $417 million respectively. The remaining costs are to be covered by a private partner.

ksinoski@vancouversun.com