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[alfie]

The promise to scrap the Severn Bridge toll's have forced me to have rethink over who to mark my cross over in a few days time.

                                                                              alfie

[Lizzie Zoom]

The promise to scrap the Severn Bridge toll's have forced me to have rethink over who to mark my cross over in a few days time.

                                                                             alfie

Is that a plan to scrap the old Severn Bridge tolls only, or those for the SSC as well?

[Nick W]

Remember the promise to make the Dartford crossing free once the bridge was paid for?
It was obvious that was never going to happen as there's no way of avoiding the crossing, so the first thing they did was to put the price up.

So treat it as a typical election promise: we'd like to do it, but the devil will skate to work before we manage to do it.

[Mister Rog]

The promise to scrap the Severn Bridge toll's have forced me to have rethink over who to mark my cross over in a few days time.

                                                                             alfie

Is that a plan to scrap the old Severn Bridge tolls only, or those for the SSC as well?

I think he means both of them, collectively. If one was done and not the other, there would be a big problem.

I live West of the bridges, and I take the toll charges and the consequent delays at the booths into consideration when deciding whether to drive or take the train, or even take a different route depending upon where I'm going.

[flyer 0712]

They may scrap the toll but will stuff us in other ways,,,,whatever we will still have to pay one way or another..

[Lizzie Zoom]

Remember the promise to make the Dartford crossing free once the bridge was paid for ?
nIt was obvious that was never going to happen as there's no way of avoiding the crossing, so the first thing they did was to put the price up.

So treat it as a typical election promise: we'd like to do it, but the devil will skate to work before we manage to do it.

We do indeed. But, in fairness the bridge came after one tunnel and now we need a third crossing, which will be a tunnel near Gravesend.  With money for this having to come from somewhere, and the Government struggling to find enough cash for everything, I support the crossing charge.  I would sooner the motorist, like me, pay to cross the Thames to support extra infrastructure than take the money away from education, NHS and security.

For the gain of crossing the Thames to the East of London quickly, rather than take the M25 clockwise from Kent the long way round to go north, £3, £5, or even £10 is worth it. The saving in fuel costs make it the financially right thing to do.

Same with the Severn crossings; no sensible motorist on business would go to Newport from Bristol via Gloucester; the toll was always the acceptable option.

[Viral_Jim]

Same with the Severn crossings; no sensible motorist on business would go to Newport from Bristol via Gloucester; the toll was always the acceptable option.

Indeed. The sad thing is that politicians have to make promises like "it'll be free after x" in order to get things past the general public. Rather than just saying that they'll build it, but if you want to use it, you have to pay for it. Same with last years referendum, both sides promised the moon on a stick and doom and darkness if you voted the wrong way.

Such Billsh!t 

[Nick W]

We do indeed. But, in fairness the bridge came after one tunnel and now we need a third crossing, which will be a tunnel near Gravesend.

For the gain of crossing the Thames to the East of London quickly, rather than take the M25 clockwise from Kent the long way round to go north, £3, £5, or even £10 is worth it. The saving in fuel costs make it the financially right thing to do.

Same with the Severn crossings; no sensible motorist on business would go to Newport from Bristol via Gloucester; the toll was always the acceptable option.

I'm not convinced that the third crossing will make that much of a difference, as it will really only be of use to those heading towards East Anglia.


But I do agree with everything else; there is no sensible way to avoid Dartford if you're in Kent/SE London and need to be north-east of the Thames. Same applies to the Severn bridge, the alternative isn't really. And that is why existing toll routes will never become free.

[Doctor Gollum]

The promise to scrap the Severn Bridge toll's have forced me to have rethink over who to mark my cross over in a few days time.

                                                                              alfie

So you would base your whole Brexit management strategy decision on who is promising to scrap a toll over which they have no influence?

Astounding

Your policy voting should have been done at the May ballot. The current status quo cannot and will not be changed until the subsequent general election, 3.5 years AFTER we leave the EU. This is in order to ensure a solid foundation for an autonomous UK. Anyone who tries to tell you otherwise is simply blowing smoke up the arse of anyone who will listen...

[Sir Tigger KC]

Same with the Severn crossings; no sensible motorist on business would go to Newport from Bristol via Gloucester; the toll was always the acceptable option.

The Severn Crossings have always been far more expensive than the Dart Crossing.

£6.70 for a car, Vans are £13.40 (even small car derived vans) and HGV's are £20! 

Which makes the Gloucester route a consideration, especially for the haulage companies if they're headed into deepest darkest South Wales and need to go along the Heads Of The Valleys road. 

[LC0112G]

Same with the Severn crossings; no sensible motorist on business would go to Newport from Bristol via Gloucester; the toll was always the acceptable option.

The Severn Crossings have always been far more expensive than the Dart Crossing.

£6.70 for a car, Vans are £13.40 (even small car derived vans) and HGV's are £20! 

Which makes the Gloucester route a consideration, especially for the haulage companies if they're headed into deepest darkest South Wales and need to go along the Heads Of The Valleys road. 

But, it's one way. It's free to leave Wales, whereas the Dartford crossing is £2.50 each way. So £6.70 return over the Severn, vs £5.00 return over Dartford. Still more expensive, but not 'far more expensive'.

[Lizzie Zoom]

Same with the Severn crossings; no sensible motorist on business would go to Newport from Bristol via Gloucester; the toll was always the acceptable option.

The Severn Crossings have always been far more expensive than the Dart Crossing.

£6.70 for a car, Vans are £13.40 (even small car derived vans) and HGV's are £20! 

Which makes the Gloucester route a consideration, especially for the haulage companies if they're headed into deepest darkest South Wales and need to go along the Heads Of The Valleys road. 

But if you are a firm running LGV's and HGV's from Bristol and hauling goods down through Newport, Cardiff, Swansea, which are the major business areas of South Wales, not only is fuel a consideration but driving time as well. Unless you are going right up into the Valley's, and as you said, using the Heads of the Valley's road, to say Merthyr, then to use the via Gloucester route does not make sense. The time factor alone, with that route not being a fast one apart from the M5 stretch, must make any transport manager disregard the £20, or whatever, cost when moving thousands of pounds worth of goods with a driver, and a big, or small, rig.

[Lizzie Zoom]

Same with the Severn crossings; no sensible motorist on business would go to Newport from Bristol via Gloucester; the toll was always the acceptable option.

The Severn Crossings have always been far more expensive than the Dart Crossing.

£6.70 for a car, Vans are £13.40 (even small car derived vans) and HGV's are £20! 

Which makes the Gloucester route a consideration, especially for the haulage companies if they're headed into deepest darkest South Wales and need to go along the Heads Of The Valleys road. 

But, it's one way. It's free to leave Wales, whereas the Dartford crossing is £2.50 each way. So £6.70 return over the Severn, vs £5.00 return over Dartford. Still more expensive, but not 'far more expensive'.

Yep, it always was, much to the annoyance of my Bristolian colleagues who objected to paying to go into Wales

[Bigron]

Lizzie, I think you have missed the point. The NHS, Education and Security should be funded from GENERAL taxati9on, the honest way, instead of sneaky virement from motoring taxes. We were promised that the bulk of the motoring taxes, if not all, would be ring-fenced for transport issues - roads, bridges and repairs, etc. We never signed up for sneaky!
Motorists pay over £50,000,000,000 (NO, that ain't 50 billion - I'm English!) annually, so there is plenty of money available to build bridges, new roads
This is why people instinctively know that this and all the other things that they are not doing for us is WRONG and feel let down, apart from the expected broken promises of politicians.
Have you ever met an honest one?
Yes, it would obviously lead to an increase in general taxation, but at least it will be clear and transparent.....

Ron.

[Lizzie Zoom]

Lizzie, I think you have missed the point. The NHS, Education and Security should be funded from GENERAL taxati9on, the honest way, instead of sneaky virement from motoring taxes. We were promised that the bulk of the motoring taxes, if not all, would be ring-fenced for transport issues - roads, bridges and repairs, etc. We never signed up for sneaky!
Motorists pay over £50,000,000,000 (NO, that ain't 50 billion - I'm English!) annually, so there is plenty of money available to build bridges, new roads
This is why people instinctively know that this and all the other things that they are not doing for us is WRONG and feel let down, apart from the expected broken promises of politicians.
Have you ever met an honest one?
Yes, it would obviously lead to an increase in general taxation, but at least it will be clear and transparent.....

Ron.

No Ron, I have not missed the point. The days of the "Road Fund Licence" is long gone and I recognise that Governments of the 21st century need to raise funds where they can and distribute it all over the place. It is like most people have accepted that the tax raised on tobacco product sales does not just go on the NHS, but is widely distributed along with fuel tax, and all other major taxes, to all areas of government, let alone pay off the national debt. Nowadays, like in industry, the money comes in a finally grand total and is then fed to the individual departsment budgets.

Where the money is needed it will be spent regardless of where it is raised.