Toll Roads Cash Only Status

47akak

The Limerick Tunnel operates as a cash only toll for those without toll-tags, as do others. How in 2022 and after Covid is this permitted? Everywhere has contactless except major national infrastructure. Is there any regulation/legislation preventing this? Any ATM near me only gives 50s, it's hugely disruptive & anti-tourist.

"Please note, toll plazas which do not accept card payment are the M8, Limerick Tunnel and the East Link Bridge".

Sam Russell

The East Link accepts cards.

kirving

I can pay for a 35 cent coffee in work on card, so it's not the fees - I can only think of one reason why a business wouldn't take card in this day and age.

According to this they also accept cards

https://www.tii.ie/roads-tolling/tolling-information/toll-locations-and-charges/limerick-tunnel/

L1011

I think that quote is from the etoll site and has been there for years. I use card on the Eastlink frequently (when in the one pool car without a working tag)

DarkJager21

The Limerick Tunnel has contactless readers on all booths for at least the last 4-5 months??

Clareman

I use the Limerick tunnel daily and I have done since it opened, I have a tag but I think they started to accept tags well over a year ago. I was able to use my watch to pay for a toll when I was driving someone elses car around Christmas time, that was more me being nosey to see it would work, it would have been a lot easier to take the card out of my wallet than changing wrist for the watch and unlocking it.

AugustusMinimus

No contactless on the Fermoy bypass which is beyond belief at this stage.

47akak

Limerick seemingly has changed but going for 11 years with cash all the way through Covid is taking the piss. Hard to believe the project didn't cover this.

Atlantic Dawn

If they are pushing all taxi's to be able to take cards then the toll roads should also all take them.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119020467#Comment_119020467

I wouldn't see how it would cover it seeing as contactless only became a thing in Ireland years after the contacts would have been signed. It started construction in 2006, contracts likely signed in 2004.

Its also important to remember some Irish banks didn't even offer contactless for years after it came on to the market e.g. BoI only adding GooglePay & ApplyPay in the last year or two

Sleeper12

I'm not sure what covid has to do with using cards. It was misinformation put out that cash carried covid. You had as much chance of getting covid from cash as from a tin of peas or a pizza delivery box

callaway92

Ya I got caught at the Limerick tunnel toll today too

Toll Tag wasn’t working (fair enough) so I went to pay by card at one of the barriers. No card thing to tap. Hard to ring thing about 5 times for a guy to answer where I had to call out my 16 Digit Card number and expiry. Fairly unbearable

Dtp1979

I love paying tolls to the fat cats that probably had their debt paid off years ago and now they’re getting fatter and richer from the proceeds.

Chris_5339762

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119020005#Comment_119020005

... especially when my tolltag doesn't work on it for some reason. I don't carry cash at all anymore.

sprucemoose

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119020552#Comment_119020552

much as i agree with the sentiment those are two different things, contactless payments have been around for a long time with irish banks

Figerty

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058244586/toll-roads-cash-only-status

Paid by card in Limerick recently. Not sure what you are not seeing there.

Sleeper12

I don't understand not having any cash. In KFC drive tru recently card machine was down. Several irate customers having to wait in the queue only to be told cash only. Then having to queue up behind customers who paid cash before leaving without any food

I don't have a problem with cards. I have several different ones but I'd never get caught without some cash. A sneaky €10 or €20 hidden in the wallet & is always have €10 or €15 in coins in the ashtray for emergency. I've seen people trying to pay by watch and it failed. They don't even carry a card as backup.

As the boy scouts say "always be prepared"

AugustusMinimus

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119021141#Comment_119021141

Its one thing being prepared for when a machine breaks. It’s a joke though that the likes of the Fermoy bypass are still cash (or chip and pin if the huts are all closed)

cantalach

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119020575#Comment_119020575

You must have somehow stopped at the only barrier without a card reader. As others have mentioned above, the toll barriers in Limerick do now take cards. I used ApplePay there just a few weeks ago.

c.p.w.g.w

The whole thing about not having cash has been pushed for years...

Many banks penalize you for using cash, or withdrawal of cash...

There seems to be a push for cashless in many areas as it allows the banks a better insight into actually spending habits and patterns

callaway92

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119115157#Comment_119115157

Ya, perhaps I did, but it’s still a fact that there’s no card reader at that one then which is odd

KrisW1001

Until last year at least, only two of the four booths (in each direction) support card payment; the other two are coin only. I've no idea if that changed since.

The road operator has made some effort here, as those two coin-only lanes have only the blue bucket icon lit above them (there's a different symbol for cards-and-coins), and a big red sign that says "TAGS OR COINS ONLY" above the entry gate:

But they probably could do more, as evidenced by the fact that you didn't notice the "TAGS OR COINS ONLY" warning on approach. The big problem I think is the signs: there’s too much text on them, and they don’t conform to the signage manual, and so it’s very easy for drivers to not realise that they are actually instructions.

Similarly ad-hoc sign designs are used at other plazas (e.g., M7, below), so maybe there should be a proper design in the signage manual for these.

MICKEYG

I have a car reg account that works on the M50 only.

I am not a regular user of the other roads but I wonder why they all don't use the same technology.

Contactless or cash, it is a pain to have to slow down and stop to pay and then accelerate back up to cruising speed again.

KrisW1001

For free-flow tolling, cameras are far more more error-prone than the active RFID tags. A small but significant percentage of camera images get dumped out for human review, which costs money. Given that the other tolls are lower than M50, it wouldn’t make commercial sense to try plate-based free flow tolling there.

However, there is an Automated Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) system at the barriers: note that display in front of you when you’re at the toll bucket also shows your registration number, so it would be technically possible for you to pull up, have your plate be read, and let through. That would be a pretty good idea, in fact.

I suspect that part of the reason is legislative. TII has only mandated that the free-flow tolling systems are interoperable, and with the exception of M50, these only use the RFID tags.

rounders

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119020005#Comment_119020005

Fermoy has contactless. Used it once or twice a month for the last 6 to 9 months