National Highways changes Dart Charge at Dartford Crossing

[robinessex]

National Highways announce changes to how the Dart Charge at the Dartford Crossing will be paid from July

https://www.kentonline.co.uk/dartford/news/changes...

"Conduent will be responsible for vehicle identification, payment processing and account management while French company emovis will continue to issue and handle inquiries for fines. The changes, along with new banking requirements, mean account holders will need to re-validate their payment cards from July 28, including pay as you go customers.If motorists do not take action, any crossings will not be paid automatically and could result in a fine.
Head of road user charging, Helen Watkinson, said: “We are really excited about the changes to Dart Charge.“We have worked hard to design a customer centric service with the new suppliers, really putting the customer at the heart of our design.“Whilst there are improvements from day one, we have further exciting improvements in the pipeline to further enhance the service offer and offer customers more flexibility. We will announce further changes as they come online."

Conduent

https://www.conduent.com/en-uk/

"Conduent delivers mission-critical services and solutions on behalf of businesses and governments – creating exceptional outcomes for our clients and the millions of people who count on them. It’s why a majority of Fortune 100 companies and over 500 governments depend on us when it matters most."

It's also a USA company. Can't we run anything for ourselves these days? Conduent Inc. is an American business services provider company headquartered in Florham Park, New Jersey. It was formed in 2017 as a divestiture from Xerox.

PS. Does anyone else remember that when the Dartford crossing was paid for, it would be free? That was supposed to happen in 2003.

[C5_Steve]

Honestly, what a load of waffle about "customer-centric" systems etc. Although anything is an improvement over their current system which like most of the government-linked sites is pretty archaic.

The only part of that I care about is needing to re-validate bank cards. I live right by the crossing, have a pay-as-you-go account and my partner has a residents discount one and that's the first I've heard about it. Unsurprising.

And yes, living right next to the crossing I am reminded constantly about how it was supposed to be free once paid for. I also remember how more recently they said removing the barriers would dramatically improve traffic flow. Guess what, it made no impact. It takes longer and longer to cross now and costs more and more almost every year it seems.

[vaud]

robinessex said:

"Conduent delivers mission-critical services and solutions on behalf of businesses and governments – creating exceptional outcomes for our clients and the millions of people who count on them. It’s why a majority of Fortune 100 companies and over 500 governments depend on us when it matters most."

It's also a USA company. Can't we run anything for ourselves these days? Conduent Inc. is an American business services provider company headquartered in Florham Park, New Jersey. It was formed in 2017 as a divestiture from Xerox.

Conduent is a business process outsourcing company similar to Capita.

It's a low margin business. To make it profitable you need high degrees of automation, resilient IT, and a low cost of workforce (e.g. offshore - India, South America, etc).

A UK company could pitch to run it but then you end with Capita who will do it for lower cost/margin but are nicknamed Crapita. As for doing it inhouse, yes possible, but then you end up with a higher cost base.

[Chris Type R]

It's not been possible for me to update/change my payment method since the changes despite a number of attempts, and recent crossings are not showing up in my account.

[C5_Steve]

Shhhhh don't tell anyone!

(I've heard a few people haven't been able to log in to change things, they've had to call I think. Also issues with updating documents for the LRDS).

[valiant]

Chris Type R said:

It's not been possible for me to update/change my payment method since the changes despite a number of attempts, and recent crossings are not showing up in my account.

Same here. Tried to update my payment details and get stuck in an endless clock timer loop.

Got enough in there to cover me for a few crossings and will no doubt get an email when a failed automatic payment get tried so will attempt again then. Hopefully will be sorted by then.

[RazerSauber]

I think the "free once it is paid for" applies to the recent Merseyflow bridge, the M6 toll and the Kingsway & Queensway tunnels in Liverpool. It will never, ever be free. Why give away what you can charge for?

[mmm-five]

RazerSauber said:

I think the "free once it is paid for" applies to the recent Merseyflow bridge, the M6 toll and the Kingsway & Queensway tunnels in Liverpool. It will never, ever be free. Why give away what you can charge for?

But they'll have a caveat to say Joe Public will not be paying a toll 'for the construction costs' once it's been paid for...but there will always be ongoing maintenance/labour costs.

[Chris Type R]

valiant said:

Chris Type R said:

It's not been possible for me to update/change my payment method since the changes despite a number of attempts, and recent crossings are not showing up in my account.

Same here. Tried to update my payment details and get stuck in an endless clock timer loop.

Got enough in there to cover me for a few crossings and will no doubt get an email when a failed automatic payment get tried so will attempt again then. Hopefully will be sorted by then.

Same for me, but it's annoying that something which is forced upon you is so broken.