Tamar Crossing tolls may be increased

[whole diary]

[devon_metro]

The tolls should be axed. Fleeced motorists pay enough already. Let's get this economy moving again!

Same with the Severn Bridge Tolls, which are effectively a tax for entering Wales, suppressing growth and draining the local economy.

Then axe the M6 Toll and get the whole West Midlands moving again. It's scandalous that fuming motorists sit in long traffic queues, belching out fumes, whilst there are 6 empty lanes of traffic with the odd BMW whizzing past at 90mph.

Think how much house prices and the value of businesses would soar if the tolls were to go!

As for increasing the tolls - daylight robbery. An attempt to suffocate South East Cornwall and cut it off from the rest of the UK^▸ (United Kingdom).

Scotland can afford it, and the economic benefits would far outweigh the loss of revenue, most of which is profit and lines the pockets of the bridge companies.

Tolls pay to maintain the bridges, which probably aren't cheap to maintain. Where is the money coming from to maintain these bridges? If it was free to cross the Tamar, it wouldn't make me any more likely to go to Cornwall for the day.

[Btline]

As I've already said, more money will be unlocked from the local economy to pay for the bridge maintenance. I wonder how much richer the Isle of Skye is now since the tolls were axed? Much more than the cost of maintaining the bridge I bet!

[devon_metro]

Why would the local economy give money to a private company to maintain their bridges!

[JayMac]

The Tamar Bridge is publicly owned. Jointly by Plymouth City Council and Cornwall Council.

[Btline]

Many of these toll roads have made back the money used to build them. They make more than enough for maintenance, and yet they jack up the prices. The charges are just there as part of rip off Britain. Dick Turpin is still alive!

DM - the last time I looked, the many ex-toll bridges in Scotland haven't collapsed due to a lack of maintenance! Instead, there has been a boom in the local economies, and people can move around, do business and these areas are more competitive.

[Chris from Nailsea]

From the Tamar Crossings website:

Notable recent projects include :

^ strengthening and widening of the Tamar Bridge between 1999 and 2001 at a cost of approximately ^35 million

^ replacement of the three Torpoint Ferries in 2005 and 2006 and associated shore works at a cost of approximately ^19 million

^ Tamar Bridge Toll Plaza Refurbishment and the Introduction of Electronic Toll Collection in 2006, together costing approximately ^4.5 million

The Tamar Bridge and Torpoint Ferry remain critical components of the region's transport infrastructure helping to safeguard the economic wellbeing of Plymouth and South East Cornwall.

[John R]

DM - the last time I looked, the many ex-toll bridges in Scotland haven't collapsed due to a lack of maintenance! Instead, there has been a boom in the local economies, and people can move around, do business and these areas are more competitive.

Would you care to let us know where exactly you looked to come to those conclusions.

[Btline]

Would you care to let us know where exactly you looked to come to those conclusions.

At the bridges..? They are still there.

Plus it's common sense. If you charge to go over a bridge, cash strapped motorists will minimise trips. Would you locate a business over a toll bridge and pay for each delivery, for clients, etc to cross each time?

[ellendune]

Just how many toll have been scrapped in Scotland.  I was only aware of one - the Skye Bridge.

The fact that they are still there a short time afterwards is not evidence that they are being adequately maintained. A bridge can be left to rot for some time before it shows signs of this neglect.  When it does it then costs a fortune to put right.  A problem that I believe Network Rail may be finding out from the past neglect of bridges by its predecesors.

The system of payment for major maintenece and improvement works on bridges is to capitalise them so the tolls will probably be going to pay back the loans on previous repairs.   

[Chris from Nailsea]

Hmm. Abolishing tolls on bridges does not necessarily have favourable results. From the Scotsman:

Scrapping bridge toll adds half an hour to road misery across the Forth

Traffic congestion around the Forth Road Bridge has soared since the abolition of tolls, according to new figures compiled by vehicle monitoring experts.

In the five-day period leading up to the scrapping of northbound tolls by the Government on February 11, the peak morning rush hour during weekdays extended to 61 minutes. But in the five days after the payments were abolished, it stretched to an average 91 minutes ^ lengthening journey times ^ according to surveys taken by road monitoring group Trafficmaster.

The increase occurred even though three of the days surveyed were part of the school half-term holidays in southern Scotland, when traffic is traditionally expected to be lighter.

The figures will fuel the debate over the impact of road tolls on congestion, suggesting that charges do discourage drivers from using their cars.

They also suggest that experts who told the Government last August that scrapping the tolls would worsen traffic congestion were correct.

Their advice was ignored by SNP Finance Secretary John Swinney, who said the economic benefits of removing the tolls would outweigh the disadvantages.

To get the congestion statistics, Trafficmaster cameras recorded the length of the time period at which traffic was travelling at less than 30mph at Junction 2 of the M90 to the north of the bridge.

It said the increase indicated that commuters and other travellers are now abandoning public transport and taking their vehicles into Edinburgh to take advantage of the falling cost.

"Congestion has increased since abolition of the tolls," said a spokesman. "It was thought that removing the tolls would speed up traffic but this does not seem to have been the case."

Although construction costs were paid off in 1993, the tolls since then have funded the bridge's maintenance costs.

The previous Labour-Lib Dem coalition Government rejected scrapping tolls on the grounds that their removal would increase congestion as well as lose about 20m in revenue ever year. Instead, in a plan backed by former First Minister Jack McConnell, drivers would have been able to escape paying tolls if they had more than one passenger in their vehicle.

Last month, Transport Minister Stewart Stevenson signed an order marking the end of tolls on both the Forth and Tay bridges, a move that angered Green campaign groups.

Patrick Harvie, the Green Party's transport spokesman, said: "The right approach would have been smart charges (shared car use]. As predicted, simply removing the tolls has encouraged a shift to car use and away from public transport, and the result is 50% more congestion and frustration, which damages the economy, the environment and people's health."

Evidence of the effect of removing tolls emerged after they were scrapped on the Skye Bridge in 2004. Traffic volumes rose by 50% without any significant positive impact on businesses and employment, according to the Skye Bridge Socio Economic Impact Study.

The Forth Estuary Transport Authority, which operates the bridge, said it was too early to tell what effect the removal of the tolls was having on congestion.

A Scottish Government spokesman said the removal of tolls had been widely welcomed across Scotland, and added: "It can take some time for traffic flows to settle into new patterns and it is therefore difficult to sensibly measure any long-term changes."

Waiting game

Irrespective of tolls, the Forth Road Bridge still has a limited lifespan.

Investigations in 2004 found significant corrosion, resulting in a loss of strength of up to 10%. Experts agree that, if the corrosion cannot be halted, weight restrictions may have to be introduced as early as 2013.

A full dehumidification system will be in operation by late next year but it will be 18 months before engineers can determine whether the technique has been effective.

In the meantime, the Scottish Government has agreed in principle to build a new road bridge across the Forth at a cost of 4.2bn.

[John R]

Sorry - my quote wasn't precise enough. It was the statement about a boom in local economies and the areas being more competitive as a result of the abolition of tolls that I was intrigued to know the supporting evidence for, as it seemed very definite. But from your response "it's common sense" it's just your view.  

[Chris from Nailsea]

Indeed, the evidence shows otherwise - from the Scotsman:

Evidence of the effect of removing tolls emerged after they were scrapped on the Skye Bridge in 2004. Traffic volumes rose by 50% without any significant positive impact on businesses and employment, according to the Skye Bridge Socio Economic Impact Study.

 

[Btline]

Just how many toll have been scrapped in Scotland.  I was only aware of one - the Skye Bridge.

All tolls have been scrapped in Scotland.

I fail to believe that report that there hasn't been benefits for Skye. By the end, it cost ^11.40 for a car and ^82.40 for a coach return. All for a few hundred yards.

[Chris from Nailsea]

From the BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page):

Tamar crossing tag fee could rise by 80p a month


A consultation, which has just started, will run until 7 November

Drivers who buy electronic tags to cut the cost of crossing between Cornwall and Devon could be charged 80p a month more under new proposals.

The committee that runs the Tamar Bridge and Torpoint ferry said it was facing a shortfall of up to ^1m a year.

It is looking at increasing the charge for a Tamar Tag which currently allows drivers to cross for half the usual ^1.50 fee.

A public consultation has started and will run until 7 November.

The tolls at the two crossings were last increased in March 2010, with the Tamar Tag electronic payment scheme being introduced in 2007.

A spokesperson for the Tamar Bridge and Torpoint ferry joint committee said it was the second largest such system in the UK^▸ (United Kingdom) (after Dartford) with some 95,000 tags issued against 65,000 accounts.

The committee is looking at introducing the new fee from April 2014.

[LiskeardRich]

How would the fee increase by 80p a month? At present there is no service charge, and from their website the only charge mentioned is 50% discount on each crossing.
Is this 80p a month going to be a service charge, or each crossing have a few pence added to it, although this latter permutation would mean it would be a different charge for each user dependent on number of crossings.