Posted by Smartarse
on Sat 15 Nov 08, 6:53 PM to Smartarse's blog.
The toll for crossing into Kent from Essex via the M25 has been raised from one pound to £1.50.
So at a time when we are falling into what some are calling the deepest recession for 60 years the powers that be at Dartford have decided now is the best time to raise the toll.
It's okay for me. I hardly ever use the crossing so a round trip going up to three quid from two quid isn't a great hardship to me. I feel sorry for those that commute every day.
The thing that makes me rant about the raise is that there is no need for a toll to be charged. The toll was originally introduced to pay for the construction of first the Dartford tunnel and then later the Queen Elizabeth bridge. But as I understand it, the cost of construction was paid off years ago. So now the toll just goes straight into the pocket of the Highways Agency.
None of this would unduly bother me, but the really annoying thing is that the damn tolls cause traffic congestion. At peak times motorists can expect to sit in a queue waiting to get through the toll gates.
The worst days are bank holidays. You might expect the Highways Agency to say: okay chaps, we've paid for the tunnel, we've paid for the bridge, come bank holiday monday we'll all take the day off and just leave the gates open, let everyone drive through. We'll lose a few thousand pounds but everyone will get down to the coast that bit quicker.
So to summarise: the unnecessary thing that causes the most misery on the M25 every Friday night and bank holiday is going to cost fifty percent more. And it's just because somebody somewhere said: Let's not give a monkey's about stimulating the economy and all those poor buggers stuck in the traffic jam - worrying whether they are going to get paid for the goods they are delivering - let's screw another fifty pence out of them every time they want to use the only link between Essex and Kent.
ETA: Ooops, sorry for not showing replies straight off. It's a while since I blogged and I missed a bank of boxes I should have ticked because they looked like they ought to have been one or the other and the defaults are set for paranoid bloggers rather than 'off topickers.'
Edited Sun 16 Nov 08, 8:32 PM by Smartarse
| 15 Nov 08, 8:41 PM xjames UK(SS), 5 yrs |
I do the crossing 2-3 times each week each way and I'm also hacked off by it. When the tunnel was built, they said the tolls would be collected until the construction had been paid for. But just as it paid for itself they began work on the bridge and so they left the tolls in place to pay for that. Now that has been paid off (last year) they've left the tolls in place as a "congestion" charge. But it's the fucking tolls which cause the congestion. They say you can still pay £1 if you get a Dart Tag - but I'd rather not have my personal details sent to the French company who operate the tolls nor to MI5. Obligatory wanky Latin tagline: Neque porro quisquam est qui dolorem ipsum quia dolor sit amet, consectetur, adipisci velit | ||
| 15 Nov 08, 9:27 PM mini_velvet UK(EH), 6 yrs  |
you'll have to make cut backs on tooth brushes to cover the deficit x No colours or shapes | ||
| 15 Nov 08, 9:55 PM just_iana UK(SS), 6 yrs |
i agree with all your points, but i undersand that if you live in Thurrock (the Essex side of the bridge, then there is a one-time fee you can pay for a lower negligible tariff.. not sure of the details but i know its supposed to have been agreed - i just cant see its been advertisised anywhere that i have seen
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| 16 Nov 08, 8:39 PM Smartarse UK(CM), 7 yrs |
I briefly looked at the highways agencies site while I was researching this rant. They say
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