Dartord Tunnel Fee Increased
Discussion
From next spring, the Dartford tunnel fee will rise to £2.50 ( + 66%). Remember the 'promises' by the government that it would be free when it had been paid for, which happened about 5 yrs ago. The biggest irony is the widening of the northern section of the M25, cost £7BN, to reduce traffic congestion, when either side of the Dartford crossing regularly sees +12 mile queues, caused solely by the fee collection. Couldn't make it up if you tried.
Yeah you're right it's a f
king joke. The amount of hours that are wasted by people just queuing for the bridge and tunnel. I think I remember someone from the government saying that the reason they haven't got rid of the toll is because it's a form of congestion charge and they want to introduce this on most of our motorway network.
mod note: please don't evade the swear filter, it is there for a reason
king joke. The amount of hours that are wasted by people just queuing for the bridge and tunnel. I think I remember someone from the government saying that the reason they haven't got rid of the toll is because it's a form of congestion charge and they want to introduce this on most of our motorway network.mod note: please don't evade the swear filter, it is there for a reason
Edited by Matt172 on Saturday 30th July 16:45
AndySpecD said:
Answer to congestion is to increase average speed on the roads, if everyone gets to their destination quicker, there will be less cars on the road at any one time.
Im not sure its that simple. If theres a traffic bottleneck the faster you're going the sooner you'll get to it and the longer you'll probably be in it. Theres 30mph limit in most towns but its rare you can ever reach that speed safely and with somewhat narrow roads, crossings, cyclists and buses its not viable during the day. Our motorways are pretty fast already with most people averaging over 80 yet we still get congestion and tailbacks.The problem is really simple, everybody all on the roads at the same time (going to and from work). The solution is to prevent everybody having to be on the road at the same time. Further development on how to achieve that is for people far more clever than me im sure.
I urge PHers to make their views known on the proposed increases in charges (amongst other changes) on the government's consultation site:
https://consultation.dft.gov.uk/dft/2011-08/consul...
You can complete a feedback form online in around 10 minutes.
One aspect of the proposal that is particularly frustrating is the removal of fees when there are serious tailbacks (10 miles either side of the crossing, with an average traffic speed of < 10mph).
This means the following:
1) The powers that be admit that the crossing can have a positive impact on congestion when users aren't charged to cross it.
2) The powers that be consider that anything less than a 10 mile tail back is not considered important enough to bother doing anything about and are happy for thousands of drivers to routinely sit at 10 mph on a motorway for up to an hour.
https://consultation.dft.gov.uk/dft/2011-08/consul...
You can complete a feedback form online in around 10 minutes.
One aspect of the proposal that is particularly frustrating is the removal of fees when there are serious tailbacks (10 miles either side of the crossing, with an average traffic speed of < 10mph).
This means the following:
1) The powers that be admit that the crossing can have a positive impact on congestion when users aren't charged to cross it.
2) The powers that be consider that anything less than a 10 mile tail back is not considered important enough to bother doing anything about and are happy for thousands of drivers to routinely sit at 10 mph on a motorway for up to an hour.
AndySpecD said:
Answer to congestion is to increase average speed on the roads, if everyone gets to their destination quicker, there will be less cars on the road at any one time.
Not strictly true, there's an optimum between speed and capacity because if everyone drives at 100mph then the gaps in between the cars for safe stopping distance reduce the capacity of the road. I can't remember the optimum without looking back at last year's Civil Engineering notes!This is disgusting, this country is literally falling apart all around us - Just look at the FTSE closing price today = 10% down on last Friday. Yet still there are these stealth taxes to remove yet more money from our pockets.
Today I've had to cancel a car I was supposed to collect today because the economy is so unstable and I don't know how this is going to affect the industry I'm in.
Basically it is criminal; as others have said the charging was always to recoup costs for installation (and I accept maintenance) but firstly it went from £1 to £1.50, now onto £2.50, absolute robbery, in fact extortion. There must be a legal person on PH that could look into challenging this? Come on folks rise to the challenge!
Today I've had to cancel a car I was supposed to collect today because the economy is so unstable and I don't know how this is going to affect the industry I'm in.
Basically it is criminal; as others have said the charging was always to recoup costs for installation (and I accept maintenance) but firstly it went from £1 to £1.50, now onto £2.50, absolute robbery, in fact extortion. There must be a legal person on PH that could look into challenging this? Come on folks rise to the challenge!
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