Monday 15th April 2002

Getting Cross at Dartford

Tolls to persist - motorists lose again

---

[wlc]

Does this mean there will not be a charge for daytime crossing?

[GregE240]

....and how will they police the cut off times ?

I can see the arguments already ".....well, according to Mickey Mouse on my wrist, it's 21:59.45 seconds, so if you'll just raise that barrier before I drive through it"

[big rumbly]

“The charges will be held at existing levels, and will help to reduce the growth of congestion at the Crossing, ensuring smoother and more reliable journeys for users.

Only the government could have the nerve to quote this. if they had any more sense they'd be half wits

[Marshy]

quote:and will help to reduce the growth of congestion at the Crossing, ensuring smoother and more reliable journeys for users

Utter unmentionable bollocks. The charges won't deter anyone from using the crossing, and all the conjestion is currently caused by the fecking queue for the toll booths. That and the ensuing 15 lanes into 4 hilarity, combined with the "which tunnel looks best" northbound idiocy.

How else does one cross the damn Thames? I once heard of a bloke who could walk on water, but he's been dead for a couple of thousand years, so that's no help.

>> Edited by Marshy on Monday 15th April 15:46

[big rumbly]

How else does one cross the damn Thames? I once heard of a bloke who could walk on water, but he's been dead for a couple of thousand years, so that's no help.


If you've got a couple of hours to spare, the Woolwich Ferry's "quite nice" on a sunny day

[steve harrison]

quote:
“The charges will be held at existing levels, and will help to reduce the growth of congestion at the Crossing, ensuring smoother and more reliable journeys for users.

Well here's a novel idea, fill the tunnel in and blow the f*****g bridge up. Then there won't be any congestion at all because nobody will bother to go there.

[Markus_Warren]

Typical! I always knew the government would never get rid of the toll. Will be interesting to see if it does get spent on the roads in surrounding areas, or if it goes into another fat cat slush fund.

[gnomesmith]

I have never been able to get a satisfactory public explanation of why it is considered proper to levy a toll on estuarial crossings whilst other parts of the motorway network are funded from central taxation. Take the Severn Bridges as an example, their total cost was a fraction of the cost of the whole M4 (when prices are adjusted to make comparison realistic) so what is it that logically singles them out as suitable for special treatment. If it is considered that the bridges attract high maintenance costs are we to expect a toll to be introduced on the elevated M6 around Birmingham which is a real money pit, are we to expect the toll bridge at Pembroke Dock to be properly maintained from income or is it just that the archaic rules and statutes introduced to fund ferries at strategic river crossings are too difficult to kill off.

I look forward to release of the Transport Department's records covering the late 1970s when there was a flurry of parliamentary interest in 'Estuarial Crossing Tolls'.

There are legal reasons why I can't follow this up any further or add any more comment, don't ask me what they are I'm not saying, but it would be very interesting if any other PH was to seek an explanation via their MP.

[Jason F]

quote:
How else does one cross the damn Thames? I once heard of a bloke who could walk on water, but he's been dead for a couple of thousand years, so that's no help.

Doesn't he now live in No.10 with the Wicked Witch and is helped by a bunch of fairy tale characters ??

>> Edited by Jason F on Monday 15th April 19:22

[mel]

I live fairly close to the crossing and saw alocal paper advert for "Revenue Collectors" basically the sullen looking half wits that sit there all day and hold their arm out and press a button. Working a rotating shift system with the majority of shifts during the day BASIC salary was £28K plus benefits !!!! Now apart from the RSI injuries likely from the job it's not exactly taxing in my mind, Oh yes the other ad' was for a Radio Technician to maintain the UHF/VHF vehicle and shipping sets and he was on £35K+. I guess our tolls actually keep a lot of people in over paid jobs and would lead to redundancies if scrapped !!!

[Dan Myers]

It was sooo nice of the Highways Agency to create a consultation document about charges. Two-thirds of replies argued against charges, many with good reasons. So the HA decided to ignore all arguments and state their previous stance to the letter.

Not only do they charge us for using the crossing, they insult us by asking for feedback and totally ignoring it!

It is almost guaranteed that the crossing money will be used for transport - the kind that runs on tracks. Railtrack investors needn't worry, good old road users will bail them out in the end.

And one small point - the Dart Tag only saves 7%, not the 7.5% they claim. Thieving little bastards.

[hertsbiker]

since when did queueing lead to reduced travel times? how absurd !

SO Tones lot are going back on a promise. Well, there's a surprise...

C