DRIC NICT GRIBC

Anti DRIC pic borrowed from the anti DRIC site too. Bet they don't care.

Borrowed from a friend who went a little further in adding up the numbers with regard to Bridge Tolls, Traffic, and the absolute inability to repay such massive amounts of capital that will be required for a Government Run International Bridge Crossing.

So… let’s break down the numbers:

A 2008 Study says that “The four-lane bridge carries more than 10,000
commercial vehicles on a typical weekday”

A quote (without citation) from Wikipedia states “10,000+ trucks per
day, 4000+ autos per day” cross the current bridge.

TOLL IN U.S. CURRENCY
Autos, Passenger Vehicles
including driver and passengers
………………………………………………………………………………
$4.00
Passenger Vehicle with trailer
…………………………………………………………………………………
$8.00
Bus, including driver and passengers
……………………………………………………………………….
$8.25

TRUCKS:
Class A 0 – 38,000 lbs. $2.75/axle
Class B 38,001 lbs. – 56,000 lbs. $3.25/axle
Class C 56,001 lbs. – 145,000 lbs. $4.50/axle

If the average truck is Class B and has 5 axle’s the toll would be $16.25
Using the 10,000 trucks figure would net $162,500 per day

Now add in 4000 passenger cars & motorcycles at the $4.00 rate yields
another $16,000

TOTAL DAILY ESTIMATED INCOME: $178,500
or
65,152,500 Per Year

Yeah, there’s money in it.

If the ambassador bridge were to close and the $4 Billion it would
take a full 61 years of ZERO INTEREST 100% payments to pay it off.

However, the Ambassador Bridge is NOT CLOSING and there is no zero
interest money and there can not be 100% payments!

IF the 2 bridges split the profit right down the middle (which they
won’t, since “competition” is expected to decrease toll prices) the
new bridge might net $32,576,250 before expenses.

Let’s think about interest for a minute. How much is interest on $4
BILLION DOLLARS? Well, governments tend to get much lower rates than
we get on our home mortgages, so let’s suppose they borrow money just
under the rate of inflation at a sweet 2% per year. Without paying ANY
principle annual interest payments (assuming annual compounding, which
is overly optimistic) are $80,000,000.

How do we pay $80 Million per year in interest with $32.5 Million net revenue?

(Wait. Maybe my numbers were off. DOUBLE THE TOLLS. $65 Million? Still
won’t cover it.)

NOTE: These numbers are a HUGE stretch in over-optimism in an attempt
to see a hint of a chance at this project making cash flow. Interest
is not 2%, it’s likely double that or more. Gross Profit before debt
service is not 100%, a large portion of that goes to pay maintenance
and staff. The stark reality is more likely to be an attempt to pay
$240 Million per year in Interest with $20 Million.

You just have to love optimism.