M50 toll campaign

RobAMerc

Seems the evening hearld and some other well known people are getting behind this.

http://www.independent.ie/national-news/stop-the-m50-toll-madness-1355621.html

Its not just a dublin thing people - tolls will creep in all over Ireland before too long and believe me we already pay way too feckin much tax on motoring here.

jimmycrackcorm

315000 readers and yet only 2000 people have supported the campaign (figures published by the herald two weeks ago). what does that tell you?

I think it must be related to how I watch many people sit in the queue for the toll bridge while I whizz past with my existing eazypass wondering why people do not realize that if everyone had gotten eazypass then we'd all be going through quicker.

Note for pouncing posters - this is a seperate point to the whys of the new tolling system. I just found it bizarre how so many people today are content with sitting in the queue instead of quick access to the eazypass lane and having to always remember to have change ready.

kazzer

So you think its fair that an occasional user should have to open an account with €40, and then replenish it with another €40? Rip off.

I.S.T.

kazzer wrote: »

So you think its fair that an occasional user should have to open an account with €40, and then replenish it with another €40? Rip off.

And a €1.21 charge per month!! What's that all about???? NTR are charging motorists for decreasing their workload. Rip off!!

L1011

63c/month on eTrip

I do not like the paying in advance, though. They probably make as much off interest as they do off the commission fees on some people!

RobAMerc

just goes to show what a lazy shower of mé feiners we are.

couldn't be arsed getting a tag - couldn't be arsed signing a petition - no wonder we ended up in the state we are in!

x in the city

NTR are ba$tards, end of rant..!

they must have coined billions since they strarted t(r)olling the (unfinished) M50...

Del2005

RobAMerc wrote: »

just goes to show what a lazy shower of mé feiners we are.

couldn't be arsed getting a tag - couldn't be arsed signing a petition - no wonder we ended up in the state we are in!

I use the M50 once in a blue moon, why should I have €40 of my money sitting in their bank earning them interest and not me.

The reason I couldn't be arsed signing the petition is because it'll make no difference, the goverment are screwed for money and they will take it from where ever they can. If they removed the toll on a road I don't use, and which has alternative free routes available, they will stick it onto something else which I do use or straight onto PAYE.

Not that I argree with the toll but they are a fact of life, like taxes and death. If you don't agree with the toll, use the free alternative routes.

Del2005

x in the city wrote: »

NTR are ba$tards, end of rant..!

they must have coined billions since they strarted t(r)olling the (unfinished) M50...

NTR have nothing to do with the M50, all they own is the bridge. The goverment own the road to the bridge and could have set the toll on the bridge to zero years ago. They haven't because they where making more money off the bridge then NTR.

Seth Brundle

NTR own the stretch between the N3 and N4 also IIRC.
In fairness, they paid for their section and the bridge when nobody else wanted to and the then government couldn't afford to build it.
Our government who (through George Redmond and Pee Flynn) signed the contract did so without knowing fully the effect the road would have.
However, as for them making billions, they have made several hundred million as have our government (through VAT).
Still, if you don't want to pay it then don't use it!

x in the city

I thought I could avoid that t(r)oll brigde last month, was picking up my ma from the mater. So I went to blanch and was to drive thru lucan etc onto the N7, and off home, rather than bang onto rush hour friday traffic in said NTR heaven.

only that this particular diversion took me the guts of 2 hours.

you just cant win...:rolleyes:

G-Money

Tolls are annoying, but what can you do.

I drove down to Dublin from the north recently for a job interview and was driving back the same day, I think I spent almost 8 euro just in toll charges. I had to go through the M50 toll twice and the M1 toll twice. On top of that the journey is almost 200 miles round trip which uses about half a tank of petrol, so the money fairly add's up. Having said that, I still prefer to drive rather than take public transport. The last time I went to Dublin via public transport, the 2 hour journey took 5 hours as the train broke down.

I think to use Eazypass you need to have an Irish reg car and an address in the republic. I guess this makes sense for those driving the tolls every day, but it's not an option for regular visitors. Tourists I think won't care.

Hagar

jimmycrackcorm wrote: »

I whizz past with my existing eazypass wondering why people do not realize that if everyone had gotten eazypass then we'd all be going through quicker.

But... but... but... if everyone did get an Eazypass wouldn't the Eazypass queue be very very long and the coin pay lane empty?

G-Money

I remember about two years ago watching an article on the news about the M50 toll. I can't remember who the guy was but his exact words were "Removing the tolls wouldn't speed up the traffic".

Ok, at the risk of sounding stupid. How could removing the tolls not speed up the traffic? Every vehicle has to slow down and/or stop to pay the toll and go through. Surely removing the tolls altogether would speed things up as it means everyone doesn't have to stop to pay the piper (or NRA in this case).

I can't figure out that guys comment at all.

Steve

Hagar wrote: »

But... but... but... if everyone did get an Eazypass wouldn't the Eazypass queue be very very long and the coin pay lane empty?

I've sometimes seen queues for the easypass lane when the coin lanes are empty:eek:

Don't they realise that easypass works in ALL lanes?

ART6

RobAMerc wrote: »

Seems the evening hearld and some other well known people are getting behind this.

http://www.independent.ie/national-news/stop-the-m50-toll-madness-1355621.html

Its not just a dublin thing people - tolls will creep in all over Ireland before too long and believe me we already pay way too feckin much tax on motoring here.

Absolutely. To me this is just another example of the scams our politicians get away with because we don't give them the kicking they deserve. Imagine if you went into your local shop and bought a newspaper for a yoyo only to find that you had to pay another as a toll for entering the shop in the first place. The whole situation, IMHO, is a national scandal, but no doubt others in this forum will tell me it happens all over the world and we are not unique. Does that make it right?

Seth Brundle

grandmaster wrote: »

I remember about two years ago watching an article on the news about the M50 toll. I can't remember who the guy was but his exact words were "Removing the tolls wouldn't speed up the traffic".

Ok, at the risk of sounding stupid. How could removing the tolls not speed up the traffic? Every vehicle has to slow down and/or stop to pay the toll and go through. Surely removing the tolls altogether would speed things up as it means everyone doesn't have to stop to pay the piper (or NRA in this case).

I can't figure out that guys comment at all.

I think when that was said, the logic was that because the junction upgrades hadn't started, the traffic would get to the junctions quicker and the bottlenecks would occur there.

I.S.T.

kbannon wrote: »

I think when that was said, the logic was that because the junction upgrades hadn't started, the traffic would get to the junctions quicker and the bottlenecks would occur there.

You shouldn't refer to it as "logic" because there is absolutly no logic to the arguement. NTR made this rediculous argument originally. They even produced a "report" to back it up (:rolleyes:). It is total nonsense, even without upgrading the junctions. To take a really simple example, image there are 100 cars queueing at the toll bridge. There are 4 main junctions after that. So if you remove the toll bridge you could have 4 smaller queues of 25 cars. Image you want to leave at the airport, you are sitting in a queue of 100 cars at the toll bridge, 75 of which are not even going to the same destination as you. If the barriers were gone you could be sitting in a queue of just 25 cars. It's a complete joke.

Seth Brundle

I see what you are saying.
However, the N7 exit off the M50 N frequently stretches to Ballymount. I believe that something like this was forecasted for other junctions had the tolls been removed

I.S.T.

kbannon wrote: »

I see what you are saying.
However, the N7 exit off the M50 N frequently stretches to Ballymount. I believe that something like this was forecasted for other junctions had the tolls been removed

Yes, but this queue only blocks the left lane doesn't it, so people who want to go to a junction after the N7 can stay in the overtaking lane. Much better to have several smaller queues blocking one lane than a very large queue blocking all lanes.

Cionád

IrishSpeedTraps wrote: »

Yes, but this queue only blocks the left lane doesn't it, so people who want to go to a junction after the N7 can stay in the overtaking lane. Much better to have several smaller queues blocking one lane than a very large queue blocking all lanes.

However there will be plenty of clowns shooting up the overtaking lane and then "remembering" that they are supposed to be taking the next exit. All you need is one of these clowns stopping in this lane to wreak havoc.

I.S.T.

Cionád wrote: »

However there will be plenty of clowns shooting up the overtaking lane and then "remembering" that they are supposed to be taking the next exit. All you need is one of these clowns stopping in this lane to wreak havoc.

That's where the shotgun comes in useful!

glomar

here is my 10 cents

Just blockade the road for about a week , I really dont see the one day protest amounting to anything usefull .

Then you will see some revised figures on the tolls