Dartford Crossing Toll Increases

jimpix12

Hold on: I work in Thurrock but commute from Bexley, so I'm not entitled to a reduction. I'm thinking of registering at my work and saying I live there. If they send over the form to the specified address in Thurrock that might count as their "verification". Will this work? It'd save me £500 a year.

Yes I'm looking for a loophole to avoid paying Brown and Darling another stealth tax.

punkrocker

The tolls have now been announced to be changing up on the 15th novemeber of this year!

The new toll charges will be
Car : £1.50 without dart tag and £1.00 for Dart tag
Van: £2.00

There will no longer be a charge at night or for trailers

The local resident discount will allow 50 free travels and there 20pence a travel from then on. Only people who live in the Thrrock and Dartford council areas will be eligible

It will also still be free for people who are Tax exempt however a new system will allow these drivers to not stop at the booth and drive right through

JimmyTheWig

So, a 50% increase?
And they want us to keep to 3% pay increases?

Hmmmm.

Rab19

I got my letter confirming these changes & am SO glad that I got my Dart-Tag years ago - still saving me money!

I used to live in Essex & coach in both Basingstoke then Guildford, so was crossing the tolls at least 2-3 times a week, dependant on training and/or games! Now I live in Hampshire, it's a LOT easier & cheaper!


Rab x x

Ionkontrol

The French own it now so the money is not even staying in thsi country.

Pew_Pew_Pew_Lasers!

There shouldn't be any charges at all. The bridge has been paid for.

vikingaero

Pew_Pew_Pew_Lasers! wrote: »

There shouldn't be any charges at all. The bridge has been paid for.

True that the bridge and tunnel has been paid for but the tunnel and bridge are a special case given the amount of manpower needed to maintain and service it. You can't leave a broken down vehicle in the tunnel until the AA arrives. The congestion it causes is horrific.

But I don't understand:

(1) Why Motorcyclists are exempt? They cause as much pollution as a normal car as they are uncatalysed.

(2) If they are raising the toll to £1.50 why not just raise it to £1.10 or £1.20? I guess the attraction of tags for all and all that money sitting in the bank before it is deducted is too good to miss.

(3) Why cyclists don't have to pay for the free lift they get through the tunnel?

(4) Why they don't build one "Foreign driver lane" in each direction? That way the foreign truckers don't have to jump out of their cab to pay.

Bob63

vikingaero wrote: »

(1) Why Motorcyclists are exempt? They cause as much pollution as a normal car as they are uncatalysed.

What makes you think motorcycles don't have cats? Most modern bikes (including all BMW bikes) do have a cat. My BMW R1150GS will easily do 50mpg and takes up a fraction of the room on the road that a car does. My Honda 500 does closer to 80mpg. You can fit 5 or more bikes into the same parking space as one car. Because of these factors, bikes are exempt from most toll crossings (except the Humber Bridge), can park for free, can use bus lanes in many cities (e.g. Bristol & Bath) and are exempt from the TFL congestion charge.

vikingaero

cheesy.mike wrote: »

What makes you think motorcycles don't have cats? Most modern bikes (including all BMW bikes) do have a cat. My BMW R1150GS will easily do 50mpg and takes up a fraction of the room on the road that a car does. My Honda 500 does closer to 80mpg. You can fit 5 or more bikes into the same parking space as one car. Because of these factors, bikes are exempt from most toll crossings (except the Humber Bridge), can park for free, can use bus lanes in many cities (e.g. Bristol & Bath) and are exempt from the TFL congestion charge.

Because when I sit behind some of them you can smell the unburnt fuel. Doesn't matter whether it's in my car or on a bench outside the pub.Yes your BMW Bike has a cat but not many BMW Bikes are sold in the UK compared to the Japanese bikes. And most people who do have a cat on these bikes tend to remove them with trick exhausts.

Throbbe

vikingaero wrote: »

True that the bridge and tunnel has been paid for but the tunnel and bridge are a special case given the amount of manpower needed to maintain and service it. You can't leave a broken down vehicle in the tunnel until the AA arrives. The congestion it causes is horrific.

But I don't understand:

(1) Why Motorcyclists are exempt? They cause as much pollution as a normal car as they are uncatalysed.

Spot on with the maintenance.

I'm guessing that motorcycles are exampt because either they cause so little wear and tear as to be negligable in maintenance costs, or that it would be very easy for them to avoid the booths without costly modifications. The cynic in me suspects the latter.