Do you skip the toll often?

guylikeme

M4, time saving not really worth it in most cases. I do of course use it if i'm going the full Dublin-Galway stretch. or in an actual hurry.

M50 also if going to airport- one can do Leixlip->Clonee->M50 if coming from M4. With traffic levels on M50, the difference isnt too bad in time.

That said, id rather not do it for safety reasons.

M6, M8, M7, M1, no question about it, i always use them. I guess M3 would be skipped a decent amount by commuters.

Whats your own 2 cents on this?

JackHeuston

I live in Blanch and if I have to go south on the N4, I try to skip the M50 toll when I'm not in a hurry.

Sometimes I'm willing to pay that 2+ € toll since I don't like the road from Blanch to Lucan to go over the Liffey.

Ayrtonf7

Riding a motorcycle I make it a point to avoid tolls, except for the M50 ... god I love that toll bridge!

donspeekinglesh

Live in Maynooth, usually head to Dunboyne and onto the M3/N3 when heading northbound.

eezipc

I rarely use any of the tolls between Galway & Dublin Airport unless I am in a hurry.
The road from Loughrea to Ballinasloe is 100kph and is relativity quiet. I don't think a huge amount of time would be saved there.
The road between Kinnegad and just past Enfield is 80kph but is normally quiet enough outside of rush hour.
I don't take the M50 toll because most of the time I forget to pay it and end up with a €6 fine.

L1011

generally not - none of them actually make sense if you apply any value to your time of more than minimum wage.

eezipc

~€16 return if you use all three tolls between Galway and Dublin Airport. That is fairly expensive I think.
Leave a bit earlier, drive slower, save a bit on petrol as well. My mother would be proud of me.

guylikeme

L1011 wrote: »

generally not - none of them actually make sense if you apply any value to your time of more than minimum wage.

Its an opinion of course, but by the logic of it, youd be tearing arss out of car on every single journey because "your time is X valuable".

I've come to realise that our idle time is pretty worthless really. Thats why we dont get paid for the hours we dont spend working

L1011

guylikeme wrote: »

Its an opinion of course, but by the logic of it, youd be tearing arss out of car on every single journey because "your time is X valuable".

I've come to realise that our idle time is pretty worthless really. Thats why we dont get paid for the hours we dont spend working

Motorway driving is generally less damaging than old roads

I value my time off at least the same as what I get paid for in work. "Saving" 16 quid with two hours isn't saving.

oppenheimer1

guylikeme wrote: »

Its an opinion of course, but by the logic of it, youd be tearing arss out of car on every single journey because "your time is X valuable".

I've come to realise that our idle time is pretty worthless really. Thats why we dont get paid for the hours we dont spend working

Yes, idle time is worthless, so driving on the toll roads reduces idle time. It means you spend less time travelling (idle) and more time is available for productive work before or after your journey. A journey that's 30mins shorter means you can do things you enjoy for 30mins more.

MayoSalmon

Heading West coming from North Dublin always skip M50 toll and go M3 across to M4 and join after Lucan or Leixlip

marno21

The only toll I would avoid is the Limerick tunnel one if it was late at night and town was quite.

Time, wear & tear, fuel, villages (pedestrians), dangerous bends/junctions etc are enough of a reason to use the motorways.

Honestly, I happily pay all tolls and don't bother with alternate routes.

I'm older enough to remember Galway to Dublin taking 4 and a half hours so a few tolls don't bother me.

The Limerick tunnel, I'd pay double. Anything to avoid the roundabouts and crawl through the city

Then again, I'm not a daily user of tolled roads so......

With the current reduction in fuel prices, there is little incentive to avoid the toll, but when it's 1.50+ then the slower journey along the old N4 can actually make a significant saving both on the toll and the fuel, but, at the current (temporary) low fuel prices it's hardly worth the effort.
Reason for the saving was because you use more fuel at 120kmh than at 80-90 kmh

mikeym

I would never skip any of the tolls travelling from Cork to Dublin.

Its too handy to stick on the motorway.

Chris_5339762

I live in Rathfarnham so if going to the airport, or anywhere North outside of rush hour or busy times I'd never take the M50.

I don't skip any of the others as its not really worth it for fuel/time. Skipping the M50 for me saves the toll, and also about €1.50 in petrol as the M50 is substantially further for the 10 minutes saving.

vince

Heading up m8 from cork to dublin I turn off at j3 for abbyliex same distance and only adds 5mins to journy 3.80 saved on a return trip.

OldMrBrennan83

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eezipc

Patww79 wrote: »

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Do people really do that? I know it used to be done on the M50 but I'm surprised it's still being done.

hi5

I always avoid them, it cost me €3.40 in my little pickup truck. I have a coffee in the bypassed town instead.

marmurr1916

eezipc wrote: »

~€16 return if you use all three tolls between Galway and Dublin Airport. That is fairly expensive I think.
Leave a bit earlier, drive slower, save a bit on petrol as well. My mother would be proud of me.

Pretty cheap compared to French motorway tolls - the return trip from the centre of Galway to Dublin Airport and back again is 428 km.

From Paris to Calais it's 295 km, one way.

Motorway tolls would cost you €21.70 in a car if you took the A1/A26 motorways.

http://www.autoroutes.fr/FCKeditor/UserFiles/File/DEPLIANT%20TARIFS%202016%2001(1).pdf

Sam Russell

marmurr1916 wrote: »

Pretty cheap compared to French motorway tolls - the return trip from the centre of Galway to Dublin Airport and back again is 428 km.

From Paris to Calais it's 295 km, one way.

Motorway tolls would cost you €21.70 in a car if you took the A1/A26 motorways.

http://www.autoroutes.fr/FCKeditor/UserFiles/File/DEPLIANT%20TARIFS%202016%2001(1).pdf

But the French do not have Motor Tax. If you take Motor Tax at 5c per km, then that makes €14.75 contribution towards the French toll - much of a muchness then.

L1011

Sam Russell wrote: »

But the French do not have Motor Tax. If you take Motor Tax at 5c per km, then that makes €14.75 contribution towards the French toll - much of a muchness then.

They have higher fuel duty pretty close to the order of 5c a litre though, last I checked.

OldMrBrennan83

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curiosity

Commuter, tend to use toll road (M8 Fermoy) on the way to work, but usually take the free option on the way home. There's a saving of 10 minutes for me (up to 15 minutes if I'm avoiding the school traffic). I can get a small saving on fuel usage via the toll, but not €1.90 worth!! The toll route seems safer though, less risk of collisions, and it makes life easier for walkers/joggers/cyclists.

Patww79 wrote: »

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To be fair to the Fermoy/Watergrasshill toll plaza, the express lane barriers work well these days, and come down sharpish after you've gone through. I wouldn't like to try risking tailing a vehicle through.

Carawaystick

L1011 wrote: »

They have higher fuel duty pretty close to the order of 5c a litre though, last I checked.

Diesel's cheaper than here, unless it changed since last summer.

It's >300km from Clermont Ferrand to Bezier; and only 9.40 for tolls. This includes motorway over 1100m, higher than Carrauntuthail

_Kaiser_

Patww79 wrote: »

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Are all reg's not recorded as you go through though? I'm sure the operators could send fines to anyone chancing their arms like that and/or report to the Gardai?

OldMrBrennan83

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K.Flyer

Surely the amount of extra fuel used and the extra time taken, not to mention wear and tear, works out way more expensive than the couple of euros toll.

eezipc

Patww79 wrote: »

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People are a bit mad aren't they? I know I tend to avoid the tolls to save a bit of cash (by taking different routes obviously) but risking a crash or fine by tailgating like that is crazy stuff.

benjamin d

I've had people directly in front of me "steal" my toll by tailgating the car in front but not being close enough to get through, so then they get my barrier lift. Which results in me taking the guy behing and so on for a while I'd presume at busy times until one poor sod doesn't have a follower.

K.Flyer

K.Flyer wrote: »

Surely the amount of extra fuel used and the extra time taken, not to mention wear and tear, works out way more expensive than the couple of euros toll.

If you have the time, you can make substantial savings avoiding the (M4) toll. The alternative route is a similar length and the slower speed means a direct fuel saving is made plus the saving on not paying the toll. There will be a slight increase in wear as you'll need to use the steering wheel , brakes & clutch more, but not that much more wear.

Irish_rat

I've driven on the old N7 through Mountrath a few times usually just for a refill. The road is fairly empty so the time lost is not that significant. However its not as comfortable or more importantly safe as travelling the M7.

The M18 Tunnel is worth it for long distance travelling. The AADT has risen significantly as economic activity in limerick has rapidly increased in the last 6-8 months.

marmurr1916

L1011 wrote: »

They have higher fuel duty pretty close to the order of 5c a litre though, last I checked.

Petrol is about 4c per litre dearer in France than in Ireland, although diesel is about the same price.

Taking the price of fuel into account, along with the higher costs of motorway tolls, travelling 1000km on French motorways is going to cost you more than in Ireland even with Irish road tax, if you're driving a petrol vehicle.

gaillimh

To resurrect an old thread...
If coming from Galway on the motorway and wanting to avoid the M50 toll (heading to near enough to the airport) - is the best place to turn off Maynooth or Leixlip?

Thanks

OldMrBrennan83

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yannakis

I see no mention of the Dublin Port Tunnel one yet. I use whatever toll comes in my way without hesitation, but I despise Port Tunnel's €10 during rush hour.

Charles Babbage

yannakis wrote: »

I see no mention of the Dublin Port Tunnel one yet. I use whatever toll comes in my way without hesitation, but I despise Port Tunnel's €10 during rush hour.

I wouldn't normally choose to pay the €10.
I do use the tunnel and then the Eastlink at other times, but on a Sunday I sometimes just drive across town if it is quiet

Middle Man

Charles Babbage wrote: »

I wouldn't normally choose to pay the €10.
I do use the tunnel and then the Eastlink at other times, but on a Sunday I sometimes just drive across town if it is quiet

In fairness, the authorities do not want the tunnel to become another commuter route - such is why this urban motorway (unlike others around the globe) actually works. When the Malahide rail viaduct was out of action, the tunnel made the alternative bus services bearable (had to use it myself) - a big factor was the commuter deterrent pricing structure. The tunnel operators also don't want traffic backing up in the tunnel for safety reasons - fire etc.

marno21

yannakis wrote: »

I see no mention of the Dublin Port Tunnel one yet. I use whatever toll comes in my way without hesitation, but I despise Port Tunnel's €10 during rush hour.

The €10 toll is to price commuters out of the tunnel, if it was less then it would become another jam and would fail to do its job, which is to keep heavy vehicles off the streets of Dublin.

If you use it rarely when you are in a rush it's a great asset. If the toll was dropped it would become just as congested as the Swords Road.

Pereplyotchik

M7/M8/Limerick Tunnel are absolute no brainers, toll road everytime imho.

I drive very regularly on pretty much the whole length of the M6-M4 and I always use the toll roads. (Roll on M17 Baby!)
I can't see the value in going out of your way and taking the old road and going through all those 50/80kph zones along the road, there appears to be just more opportunities for things to wrong on the old roads, accidents, speed vans, pedestrians, cyclists, tractors, towns and villages etc. The toll isn't enough to discourage use of the toll roads (Thankfully!) and if you drive at 100-110kph on the motorway (you don't HAVE to do 120kph, it's not a target) then the additional fuel use v 80kph doesn't add up to much.

I did have to use the old N4 going home to the west last year (forgot my wallet) and I found that the old road is actually alright now that traffic has thinned out with the motorway but I just wouldn't depend on it...

But mostly I use the tolls to avoid the aggravation of the old roads, you're a hostage to fortune on the old road in many cases...

that said I saw a guy in a Dacia Duster with a mattress on the roof driving on the M4 a while ago, the wind was trying to peel the mattress off the roof (one rope across middle- nice) he also drove 1/2 in the HS, 1/2 in Left lane with hazards on...) :rolleyes::rolleyes::eek:

JupiterKid

I live just off the Navan Road and if travelling to the South and West of the country I take the North Circular and then out the Old N4 via Chapelizod to get onto the M50 at Palmerstown. The time saving by taking the M50 toll is not that great from where I live.

But nearly all the motorway tolls here are pretty reasonable. The Port Tunnel is steep for a reason - to deter commuters - and the M4 between Kilcock and Kinnegad is a tad pricey. But it's nearly always better to take the toll than the old road.

Apparently the M6 Toll in the West Midlands in the UK has been a dismal failure because the toll is at such a level that nobody uses it.

L1011

JupiterKid wrote: »

Apparently the M6 Toll in the West Midlands in the UK has been a dismal failure because the toll is at such a level that nobody uses it.

The toll is now deliberately kept high to keep traffic low, so that they can reduce maintenance to the bare bones. The contract requires the road to be given back at the end of the contract with half a lifespan on its surfacing and they may get away with 1 resurfacing not 2 now.

It covers its operating costs but has 1.9Bn of debt - which is partially down to the original funders taking a huge 'dividend' as it only cost 900m to build.

They're making an operating profit of about 40m a year but interest costs are about 70m a year...

Its a 50 year contract from 2003. It has effectively become the example of how NOT to do a toll road contract worldwide.

Sam Russell

Mod: I will lose this thread as:

It is a resurrection of a very old thread.

It is not really an infrastructure topic - the bridge has been there for years.