WECA considers tolls

[whole diary]

[infoman]

not sure if in the right section,please relocate if deemed fit.

WECA^» (West of England Combined Authority - about) considering re-introducing tolls on the severn Bridge/s

[Timmer]

Any chance of a source infoman?

[Western Pathfinder]

A brief mention of this on the Points West regional news bulletin at 07:30 this morning
Don't know if WECA^» (West of England Combined Authority - about) actually are in a position to do anything like this.

[grahame]

not sure if in the right section,please relocate if deemed fit.

WECA^» (West of England Combined Authority - about) considering re-introducing tolls on the severn Bridge/s

Any chance of a source infoman?

Note sure if this is direct to source, but certainly more background:

https://www.bristolpost.co.uk/news/bristol-news/scrapped-severn-bridge-tolls-could-3843114

[simonw]

No sure it was tolls, but congestion charging.

Who'd have though that removing expensive bridge tolls and not investing in park and ride services (train or bus) would simple move the problem to an area that could not cope. (Bristol North Fridge)

[Celestial]

No sure it was tolls, but congestion charging.

Who'd have though that removing expensive bridge tolls and not investing in park and ride services (train or bus) would simple move the problem to an area that could not cope. (Bristol North Fridge)

And Newport (M4), which already couldn't cope and has had it's relief cancelled.

[Bristolboy]

I relatively frequently work in S-Wales and it definitely appears the traffic is much worse coming from Wales to England in the morning and vice versa in the evening. Probably linked to the removal of tolls, but also much lower house prices in Wales.

I've heard anecdotally that train commuters from S-Wales to the Avon area vastly outnumber those going the other way, which will tie in with the suggestion that it is as much symptomatic of house price costs as anything else.

Aside from improving public transport services, including potentially park and ride, I am not sure what else can be done. The suggestion of congestion charging seems ridiculous to me without a corresponding improvement in public transport because the existing services are often already at capacity. 

[TonyK]

It will get much worse when the houses on the former Filton Airfield are built, although that is a project of decades rather than months. Chepstow has long been a suburb of Bristol, as well as Newport, but with fewer public transport options. The end of the tolls was a cause for deep joy amongst some people I know who had little alternative to the motor car once they had moved there. Park and rde schemes are not what you would call a sustainable solution, as you have to drive to them in the first place. It is one of the paradoxes of providing quality public transport (and MetroBust) that once it is up and running, people will drive to join it. Then charges are levied to control the numbers. Anywhere still free to park will find a commuter parked in it in Bristol.

Bristol's city centre parking charges are now such that driving away from the centre to a park and ride makes sense for anyone living near an unreliable bus route. That was never the idea.