The M50 Barrier Free Tolling Thread

zing wrote: »

IIRC there are signs before the n4 exit when heading northbound saying something along the lines of 'Last exit before Toll' or something like that. I suspect there's something similar before the n3 exit when heading southbound.

Today's Indo wrote:

UP to 5,000 motorists a day using Dublin's M50 are failing to pay the toll, leading to a potential loss of revenue of €100,000 a week to the National Roads Authority.


Yesterday, it emerged that 10,000 notices claiming the toll has not been paid are being sent out every day -- half of which do not result in payment within the 14-day period before fines are applied.

Despite the high default rate, the NRA is refusing to say how many motorists it expected to fail to pay the toll when the motorway went barrier-free.

The head of the public private partnership (PPP) unit, Hugh Creegan, said projections on the number of motorists expected to refuse to pay would not be available until the authority's annual accounts were published. But, he added, it did not intend to send anyone to jail for non-payment.

There was confusion yesterday after the 'Irish Times' incorrectly reported that up to 20,000 people were being incorrectly charged for using the road when they had not done so, but the NRA disputed this, saying the number was far less.

It could not quantify the number of bills mistakenly sent out. But it did emerge there had been a litany of problems with the €25m tolling system since the M50 went barrier-free on August 30 last.

The NRA admitted up to 20,000 notices claiming non-payment were sent out each day in the first two weeks of barrier-free operations, which has since dropped to 10,000 a day.

While the system is 98.8pc accurate in reading number plates, up to 200 people a day will be incorrectly charged for using the motorway when they have not done so, Mr Creegan admitted. A 'grace period' where the €3 fine for non-payment is waived is to be extended until October 14.

Incorrectly-mounted electronic tags is the most commonly-cited reason why tolls are not applied, or incorrectly applied, followed by account details including the vehicle's number plate not being up to date. Some motorists have also not activated the electronic tags, meaning they cannot be 'read'.

Other issues leading to incorrect vehicles being tolled include broken and dirty number plates.

Mr CJ wrote: »

Say good bye also to all our forests nearing its collapse giving the amount of pure bullsht paperwork they spit out!

The television advert should also be banned, I dont know about you guys but everytime I see that add "dont stop me now im having such a good time" full of smiley faces, I do be shouting "stop me now before I smash my tv" :mad: ha

Bond-007 wrote: »

I would agree with you there. If enough people didn't pay the system will grind to a halt under the weight of it's own procedures.

leon8v wrote: »

About time we as a group(Motorists) stood up to these things. Anybody any good at wording an email that can go out to the masses to inform them of the protest??:D:D
Also a few people on the M50 with banners would be good too, they would probably be arrested but worthwhile cause!!!:D Any students out there, they are usually up for something like that:D

Sizzler wrote: »

Dear Motorist,

You may be a regular M50 user or you might just have to use it once a year for that trip to Dublin Airport to collect dear old aunty Bridie. Regardless of how often you use it the fact is YOU the motorist are now being ripped off like never before ! The NRA might claim they have done us all a favour by removing the toll booths and congestion has eased considerably but the fact is we are now paying for that privilege, for the irregular user you are now paying 50% more !

The eFlow system has suffered a litany of problems since its launch on August 29th, some of you reading this will empathise with stories of being billed for journeys you never made, your credit card was whacked with charges you can't make sense of, you have received half a telephone book of literature in the post because eFlow don't have a 'record' of you paying (John Gormley, Green party anybody?), you can't get through to their telephone number, you can't pay online, you get the drift.

The M50 has paid for itself many times over, it was also paid for in part by the EU many years ago, guess what YOU are now paying for it all over again !

This madness has to stop, say no to the TOLL!

leon8v wrote: »

I like it, Should it include a piece about refusing to pay it or would that be taking it too far.
Oh and any dig at John Gormless is always an added bonus.

Wikipedia wrote:

The first major capital project funded by the Private Finance Initiative, the bridge has been controversial since its construction was announced. In exchange for the contractors funding the bridge's construction themselves (rather than being paid to do so from the public exchequer) they were granted a licence to operate the bridge and charge travellers tolls. When the Bridge contract was first awarded, the partnership estimated it would cost around £15 million, although delays and design changes added significantly to the cost (to around £25 million, by the BBC's estimate).

The tolls charged by the bridge concessionaire, Skye Bridge Ltd., proved to be particularly unpopular. By 2004 a round trip cost visitors £11.40, fourteen times the round trip price charged by the Forth Road Bridge (a crossing over twice the length), a price which protesters claimed made it the most expensive road in Europe. As the Skye bridge was being constructed, several other (smaller) bridges were also being built or planned in the Hebrides, connecting smaller islands either to larger ones or to the mainland. These bridges were to be public roads without tolls, and Skye locals came to believe that the Skye bridge too was a public road on which no toll should be levied.

The ferry operator, Caledonian MacBrayne, had made a profit of over a million pounds per year on the route, but observers from the BofA and later the National Audit Office noted that many locals were excused the ferry fee by ferry workers, with much of the ferry's revenue coming from the heavy summertime tourist traffic. One local told the BBC that on the day following a defeat of the English football team by their German counterparts, ferry workers had let cars bearing German licence plates travel for free. In the bridge's first year of operation it recorded traffic of 612,000 vehicles, a third more than the ferry's official numbers.

This included mass protests and a prolonged non-payment campaign, and continued as long as the tolls. A toll-collector interviewed by the BBC in 2005 said that abuse of collectors by motorists had been commonplace. Numerous toll opponents were cited for refusing to pay the toll, with around 500 being arrested and 130 subsequently convicted of nonpayment. Among those charged was Clodagh Mackenzie, an elderly lady from whom the land necessary for the bridge's arrival in Skye had been compulsorily purchased; the charges against her were subsequently dropped without explanation. Of those convicted, only the first, the SKAT Secretary Andy Anderson, received a (brief) prison term. Those charged with nonpayment had to make the 140 mile round trip to Dingwall sheriff court, again crossing the bridge and where again many refused to pay, incurring a further criminal charge. Robbie the Pict argued that the legal paperwork for the tolls was incomplete, and that consequently the tolls themselves were illegal. In particular he said that the "assignation statement", a licence to charge a toll, had never been given. Interviewed later by the BBC Fiscal Davind Hingston in Dingwall refuted this claim, but admitted that he himself had been denied access to many government documents on the case, on the grounds of commercial confidentiality. Hingston told the BBC "As a fiscal I was stuck with that evidence but as a private individual I found it stunning" [1], leading to renewed calls that the convictions of the toll protestors should be quashed - to this the Crown Office reiterated that appeals on these grounds had already been rejected by the courts.

The bridge, and the toll protest, became a continuing political issue. Following the 1997 General Election, the Labour-run Scottish Office introduced a scheme whereby tolls for locals were subsidised (the scheme cost a total of £7 million). Following the creation of the Scottish Parliament, the Scottish Labour Party joined in coalition with the Scottish Liberal Democrats, who had made the Skye Bridge toll abolition one of their priorities. With responsibility for Scotland's road network transferred from Westminster to the Scottish Executive, increased political pressure was placed on the toll's future. On June 3, 2004, Jim Wallace, the Enterprise Minister in the Scottish Executive announced that he hoped the bridge would be bought out, and tolls abolished, by the end of 2004. [2] In line with this, on December 21, 2004, Scottish Transport Minister Nicol Stephen announced that the bridge had been purchased for approximately £27 million, and toll collection immediately ceased. [3] During the preceding decade £33.3 million in tolls had been collected. Figures obtained by the BBC under freedom of information laws showed the consortium's operating costs on the bridge had been £3.5 million.

The topic is explored extensively in George Monbiot's book Captive State in which he examines the merits and demerits of Private Finance Initiatives.

jenzz wrote: »

I travel it up to 6 times a day & have a tag. I have noticed southbound in the furthest right lane it never ever beeps. On another note I got a penalty today for my written off car. I asked for a picture for the craic just to see how in gods name someone managed to get the thing to move after it was floating in about 5 foot of water.

NeMiSiS wrote: »

Follow up to this;



and this ;

"And it gets better!
My Credit Card company just rang to inform me that EFlow are trying to put 6 transactions through now!"


I just got 3 letters in the post saying I've to pay my toll, for the 24th and 25th of September. For the 24th I used their web****e and was told my transaction was sucessful.

My CC company has informed me they are trying to debit me now for 36 euro on the 25th - I actually owe them 6. This is because I -tried- to pay 6 times and failed. The guy on the phone even suggested I go down to a shop and try pay there, I told him I had better things to do. I went to the shop to get my lunch and there was a woman there who had payed recently in the same shop - with a notice saying she had not payed and now had 14 days.

So they owe -ME- 30 quid.

I rang them and the girl on the phone told me she would clear off those transactions - I don't know if I can believe that.

If they debit my card I will go to there offices and wait all day until I receive a cheque to refund me the money I am owed.

Awful bunch of ****ing idiots.

TK

cormie wrote: »

It's the van in my signature they had it at 2020KG, 20KG over the 2tn limit, I changed this by having to go to a weigh bridge, get a docket, go to tax office and do loads of stuff there, once that was done, it was still showing up on their site as over 2tn so I rang up and left it with them.

kbannon wrote: »

I'm starting to feel left out!
I haven't registered with them so have no account to check and I haven't received any letters yet!