Port Tunnel - when do they charge you?

Seve OB

Anyone ever use it? I have a few times off peak and found it handy and quick. Always shyed away from the heafty peak charge though!

I did recently use it though to get to a meeting in East point at 9am and also heading home one evening at 5:30 pm. Have to say it was well worth the tenner to avoid the traffic, especially now the schools are back in full swing.

Gas thing is, I haven't been charged yet... for either trip! First one was 2 weeks ago. I have an easy pass. Barrier lifted for me heading in, but didn't on way out and the lady at kiosk just asked for my reg.

are they much much slower at applying charges? or could there have been a mistake? M50 is charged within hours... if not minutes!

L1011

Minutes usually - although the manual lift will require them to request it off the tag firm manually so that could take time.

I've had a manual lift never turn up as I suspect they just didn't bother taking details - it was close to a ferry boarding time, there were a few cars queuing and if they did check their own records at all they'd see I've spent far, far, far too much money there in the past few years on that car reg.

Seve OB

MYOB wrote: »

Minutes usually - although the manual lift will require them to request it off the tag firm manually so that could take time.

I've had a manual lift never turn up as I suspect they just didn't bother taking details - it was close to a ferry boarding time, there were a few cars queuing and if they did check their own records at all they'd see I've spent far, far, far too much money there in the past few years on that car reg.

weird so. the automatic lift was 2 weeks ago and still not showing

manual lift was monday evening, so maybe that might take a bit of time

Grandeeod

Incredible to think that this piece of infrastructure was built at huge cost in a car dependent city and it penalises the private car!

GerardKeating

Grandeeod wrote: »

Incredible to think that this piece of infrastructure was built at huge cost in a car dependent city and it penalises the private car!

NO

Not all infrastructure is built for the private motorist. This was built for HGV access to the port.

Stheno

GerardKeating wrote: »

NO

Not all infrastructure is built for the private motorist. This was built for HGV access to the port.

I know someone who works in the tunnel in a management position who strongly feels that it is underutilised particularly in rush hour and that the charges should be reduced to optimise it's usage

@OP, are you billed by direct debit?
If you are it will show up, I use the tunnel all the time, and it never fails to show up on my bill.

Grandeeod

GerardKeating wrote: »

NO

Not all infrastructure is built for the private motorist. This was built for HGV access to the port.

Built at a time when car dependency was at its highest. Planned for one thing, while public transport investment languished way behind. On a very car dependent route. Your negativity cannot be serious. Things have changed and changed drastically.

Seve OB

Stheno wrote: »

I know someone who works in the tunnel in a management position who strongly feels that it is underutilised particularly in rush hour and that the charges should be reduced to optimise it's usage

@OP, are you billed by direct debit?
If you are it will show up, I use the tunnel all the time, and it never fails to show up on my bill.

No, I have a tag account, so can see all my trips at a glance

GerardKeating

Stheno wrote: »

I know someone who works in the tunnel in a management position who strongly feels that it is underutilised particularly in rush hour and that the charges should be reduced to optimise it's usage

but maximizing the usage at Rush Hour kind of defeats the purpose of a priority route for HGV's.

Grandeeod wrote: »

Built at a time when car dependency was at its highest. Planned for one thing, while public transport investment languished way behind. On a very car dependent route. Your negativity cannot be serious. Things have changed and changed drastically.

Has Car dependency reduced recently?

What "negativity", I think my points were positive. The Port tunnel is positively a priority route for HGV access to Dublin Port.

It is true that Public Transport is massively under invested in, but the Port Tunnel is the one real positive, it takes a massive amount of HGV traffic out of the city centre.

ProudDUB

I only ever used it when I lived in the IFSC. I had visitors from America fairly often. If they came in on an early morning flight, it was worth the tenner to get them home to their Superquinn sossie sambo, as soon as possible and avoid all the rush hour traffic around Santry/Whitehall/Drumcondra/town. It didn't happen often enough to make it overly expensive. My sister would be horrified at the 10e cost though. She would often volunteer to sit in the airport coffee shop for half an hour to make it to the off peak time. I would literally have to shove her and her poor jet lagged kids into the car. :rolleyes:

The only other time I would use it, would be if I was out somewhere on a Sundays & I wanted to avoid Croke Park crowds. Other than that, I'd go home on regular roads. I live out in Sutton now and I never use it.

L1011

ProudDUB wrote: »

She would often volunteer to sit in the airport coffee shop for half an hour to make it to the off peak time. I would literally have to shove her and her poor jet lagged kids into the car. :rolleyes:

She'd probably be amongst the cars PARKED along the edge of the toll area entrance about 09:55 and having to be ordered to drive through by staff, then I guess.

Grandeeod

GerardKeating wrote: »

but maximizing the usage at Rush Hour kind of defeats the purpose of a priority route for HGV's.



Has Car dependency reduced recently?

What "negativity", I think my points were positive. The Port tunnel is positively a priority route for HGV access to Dublin Port.

It is true that Public Transport is massively under invested in, but the Port Tunnel is the one real positive, it takes a massive amount of HGV traffic out of the city centre.

In the absence of major public transport investment, the DPT, is literally an insult to no choice road users with its outrageous peak time charges to the private car. Remove the barriers like we did on the M50 and let everything through at a decent rate. I believe it was conceived during an era that some dimwits believed would be partnered with MN and DU. In a pro road environment, combined with the crash, we now have a "drug addict effect"...that the toll can play on. The HGV argument is dated and irrelavent. We have motorways in this country that are devoid of HGVs avoiding the tolls and creating dangerous situations on reclassified N roads. The DPT was a massive infrastructural investment and its dedicated use for HGVs (bar tolling) is a disgrace.

ProudDUB

MYOB wrote: »

She'd probably be amongst the cars PARKED along the edge of the toll area entrance about 09:55 and having to be ordered to drive through by staff, then I guess.

Seriously. You've just spent $5000 to fly you and your kids half way around the world. A feckin tenner on my part is no big deal. :rolleyes:

NOW GET IN THE DAMM CAR !!! :mad::mad::mad:

I was still getting "mammy always did say you were far too easy with your money" lectures two weeks later....



.......sorry, just had to vent.

Seve OB

both trips hit my account over the weekend... drat!