Toll free: Port Mann and Golden Ears bridge tolls gone permanently

The Port Mann and Golden Ears bridges are toll-free as of this morning.

The tolls were permanently removed at midnight, making good on an NDP pledge to drop the levies.

But removal of the tolls doesn't mean travellers have been forgiven their debts if they ran up a tab crossing either bridge in the months leading up to the change.

The Insurance Corporation of BC says anyone with an outstanding bill for bridge tolls won't be able to renew their licence or car insurance until the bill is paid.

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  A small tug boat is moored on the north shore of British Columbia's Fraser River underneath the Golden Ears Bridge. (Don Denton/TCPI/The Canadian Press)