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avtur wrote:I can't believe in this day and age that there are technologies that don't time stamp every transaction.
Oh the technology is there but....
Friday night a few weeks ago I picked up a hire car at Dublin airport and drove round the M50 past the toll cameras.
Next day, I logged onto eflow.ie to pay the toll, chose the option "pay or pre-pay a toll" and entered the registration number and paid.
Note that "pay or pre-pay" was the option, not separate "pay" and "pre-pay" option. Once I had entered the vehicle registration, it would be much more useful if it listed any outstanding payments so you could (if there was more than one) select what you are paying for. At least then I'd have a chance of paying for the time I passed through with that vehicle, not the time that someone else passed through earlier on the Friday.
I don't know whether the Dartford system is better as I never go that way and doubt I'll be using the Mersey system anytime soon.
All this avoidable complication. Avoidable by...not tolling. Strange the willingness of some on here to try to justify them. Paying £20 wouldn't mean the end of the world either but, it would be no more wrong than the actual toll. If Scotland and Wales can manage without, so can England.
The Mersey toll will be removed when the bridge is paid for? When was the Tamar Bridge 1961 paid for? Even now, it is the Welsh that have brought about the abolition of tolls on the Severn, otherwise they would be continuing, as with Dartford, Humber, Itchen, Tamar, Mersey, Tyne tunnel etc.
SteveA30 wrote:Even now, it is the Welsh that have brought about the abolition of tolls on the Severn, otherwise they would be continuing, as with Dartford, Humber, Itchen, Tamar, Mersey, Tyne tunnel etc.
Is it? The concession for building the Second Severn Crossing and operating both Severn Bridges is coming to an end and the bridges will revert to ownership of the UK Government not the Welsh Assembly, and from 2018 they will be operated by Highways England.
SteveA30 wrote:Even now, it is the Welsh that have brought about the abolition of tolls on the Severn, otherwise they would be continuing, as with Dartford, Humber, Itchen, Tamar, Mersey, Tyne tunnel etc.
Is it? The concession for building the Second Severn Crossing and operating both Severn Bridges is coming to an end and the bridges will revert to ownership of the UK Government not the Welsh Assembly, and from 2018 they will be operated by Highways England.
And the Dartford Crossing toll has gone as the bridge is paid for. Its a congestion charge now to discourage peak use. Well thats worked
As expected. The locals will be using their free crossings for a kick off, and anyone with a modicum of sense for saving time on a journey will go this way rather than sitting in solid traffic on the M6/M62, which are generally car parks at peak times.
Bryn Terminally cynical, unimpressed, and nearly Middle Age already. She said life was like a motorway; dull, grey, and long.
As expected. The locals will be using their free crossings for a kick off, and anyone with a modicum of sense for saving time on a journey will go this way rather than sitting in solid traffic on the M6/M62, which are generally car parks at peak times.
It would be interesting to know what their average daily revenue is, and how much is foregone by the free passes for the locals.
So much avoidable complication. You can just drive over the new Forth Bridge and many others without registering, ringing a number, paying. Why do they want reg, make and model for the 24/7 phone system? No-one else is going to pay for your car, giving all the details, just for the fun of it.
There must be multiple cameras there anyway.
The Scots and Welsh have shown the way forward, we just prefer greed.
Is it not about time that all UK tolls on major roads were operated through a centralised, ANPR system? No slowing down, no confusion about who to pay.
I was just watching the BBC TV North West Local News today and a bit came up on the new bridge tolls. Apparently they have already issued 50,000 PCNs for non-payment ! Seems an awful lot to me.
Bryn666 wrote:
So no, much like Dartford, this is a few numpties once more not reading the GIANT SIGNS.
Are there really GIANT SIGNS at the Mersey crossing? Can say I've seen any GIANT SIGNS at Dartford - unless they've been installed since I last went round that way.
A picture of the GIANT SIGNS at both locations might help us non-locals to know what we are looking for.
Burns wrote:Is it not about time that all UK tolls on major roads were operated through a centralised, ANPR system? No slowing down, no confusion about who to pay.
Absolutely. Huge cost savings and convenience for all involved.
Berk wrote:I think the ‘giant’ signs being alluded to are no bigger than your normal information or ADS sign - large enough to see, but not until you get close.
300mm x-height, so motorway sized, and also 2 miles before the last exit before the toll. We've done this topic to death before, if you can't see these signs then stop driving.
Bryn Terminally cynical, unimpressed, and nearly Middle Age already. She said life was like a motorway; dull, grey, and long.
I don't know the new Mersey Crossing but I've seen the signs on the approach to the A282 - if you miss them then what else are you going to miss?
On a similar theme, are there many people who don't see the signs for the M6 Toll (or indeed any toll road) and then get confused when they get caught at the toll booths?
"If you expect nothing from somebody you are never disappointed." - Sylvia Plath
Berk wrote:I think the ‘giant’ signs being alluded to are no bigger than your normal information or ADS sign - large enough to see, but not until you get close.
300mm x-height, so motorway sized, and also 2 miles before the last exit before the toll. We've done this topic to death before, if you can't see these signs then stop driving.
“Signs as big as houses”, Kindersley said. They are big, but not massive. And impossible to see at all if a lorry is cruising past in lane 1. Though I accept you’ll have passed at least one or two other “C-Charge” signs.
If we are to have more tolls, a central system for a motorist to set up a personal auto-debit account is surely a must. The system would have to include not just ANPR cameras, but cameras to take photos of the car front and rear in case of clones or disputes. Personally, though, I'd rather they put 0.5 p/litre on petrol to eliminate the tolls.
Agree about the ability to set up central accounts to pay for tolls. However, not all tolls are government run. What about the Humber Bridge, for example??
And the M6 Toll is a private concession. But I don’t think it’d be beyond the whit of a few people to link systems and accounts up.
When was the Tamar Bridge 1961 paid for? Even now, it is the Welsh that have brought about the abolition of tolls on the Severn, otherwise they would be continuing, as with Dartford, Humber, Itchen, Tamar, Mersey, Tyne tunnel etc.
