Dartford Crossing

alderpoint

roddydogs wrote: »

Is the QE bridge free? thats only one way?

No, whether you use the bridge or the tunnel you have to pay. (At least inside the chargeable hours.)

Moto2

roddydogs wrote: »

Is the QE bridge free? thats only one way?

It is for motorbikes

Iceweasel

roddydogs wrote: »

Is the QE bridge free? thats only one way?

This is the playing with words that has gone on.

There is no QE2 bridge no more - It's part of the Dartford Crossing now and simply called Dartford Crossing - Southbound or clockwise if you prefer.

The other bit is the tunnel and it somehow doesn't seem to be called the Dartford Tunnel any more either - It's also called the Dartford Crossing - but this time Northbound or anticlockwise.

Coming from a Northern part of the UK I would only use it/them if the Heathrow side of the M25 was blocked/closed or even more busy than normal.

I see no need for any of these tolls at all.

reeac

Nodding_Donkey wrote: »

I registered all our household vehicles online and deposited a tenner in the Dart Charge account. It will probably take a year to use it but it will be better than forgetting and getting hit with a penalty charge.

Me too. When I first heard about the changes to the charging system I grumbled a bit but then registered and it's all painless now although we don't often use the crossing.

citykid5

If your cars taxed as disabled vehicle it's free I believe

Le_Kirk

I flagged up all sorts of problems that might occur when this idea was first mooted and lo and behold they have come to pass.
1. My first thought was, if you are going to a ferry or Eurotunnel, unless you have a smart phone and can find some Wi-Fi how do you pay on-line.
2. There is no phone number displayed on the Toll Warning Signs, you have to go on-line to find it - see comment 1.
3. How do we charge/collect tolls/fines from foreign cars?
4. What about hire cars? I see now there is a case where a chap paid in advance, went through the tolls both ways and 3 months later received a PCN because the previous hirer of the car had not paid but the system had used this chap's payment. He is being told HE has to sort out the Dartford Crossing company's mess!! Also how do you pay in advance for a hire car - you often don't find out the registration number until you collect the car - and obviously the first thing on your mind is to find an internet cafe to advance pay!
5. After it started there were problems trying to pay in shops as their training or equipment was not up to speed.
I opened an account on-line with auto top-up and after several loooong phone calls to Dart Charge (their system kept refusing to take my auto top-up), it now works well, I even added the OH's car to it. She used it recently and that worked as well - she has though, refused to give me her toll money, so I've sent her a PCN!

benjus

On the one hand removing obligatory cash payment is a great move. We're not in the 19th century any more, and it caused lots of delays on that route. A prepay account is MUCH better than cash for people who live in the area and use the crossing frequently.

On the other hand for one-off or occasional users, forcing them to pay online is not a great solution. Yes, you can use Payzone but then you would have to go out of your way to find somewhere. A place where you can pay the charge, located near the crossing and clearly signed, would seem like a good idea.

duchy

Nodding_Donkey wrote: »

I registered all our household vehicles online and deposited a tenner in the Dart Charge account. It will probably take a year to use it but it will be better than forgetting and getting hit with a penalty charge.

At £2.50 each way for low usage (it's much cheaper for regular users which is annoying) that tenner may not last long.

It's still free in the late evening til very early morning I believe .

The lines at the toll booths were slow so for many this system is an improvement (although more expensive than it morally should be)

shaun_from_Africa

roddydogs wrote: »

Is the QE bridge free? thats only one way?

It depends.
I've used the crossing 4 times in the past couple of months so there should have been 8 charges made to my account. (I pre-pay and don't drive an exempt vehicle).


However, I have only been charged 5 times. all four northbound (tunnel) charges have been taken but only one of the southbound (bridge) ones.
I don't know if there is a problem with the ANPR cameras not working correctly or if they just get blocked by lorries or other large vehicles, but it seems a bit of a coincidence that the missing charges are always when using the bridge.

amiehall

I went round the other way on the way back as traffic was poor so should only be affected once and have now paid over the phone. So hopefully it'll just be a warning for late payment if anythint comes through and I do now know for the future!

I do really think signage is shocking though. It really didn't attract my attention as highly relevant. I guess I confused it in my mind with the low emission zone signs I used to drive past near Heathrow that are for trucks. The first time I saw one of those, I was nearly signing up to pay congestion charge...

Thanks for the reassurance.