Proposed charges:
£2 for motorcyles during peak times, so in a years time you are looking at around £1000 of extra expenses if you are commuting through Blackwall.
£3 for cars during peak times - that’s over £1500 yearly
TFL says that charge would reduce demand, but then they also say that people will be diverting from other crossings to Blackwall/Silvertown to reduce journey time. So it’s just another money making scheme:
“The charge is necessary to manage demand and ensure that the local road network can accommodate future traffic levels, reducing the environmental impacts of traffic congestion.”
"We have considered whether the Silvertown Tunnel scheme would cause motorists to divert to other river crossings. Our assessment is that while some drivers might choose to use another crossing to avoid the charge at the Blackwall and Silvertown Tunnels, others could be expected to divert to the Blackwall or Silvertown Tunnel from other crossings, even with charging in place. This is because it would be much quicker to cross the river via the Blackwall or Silvertown Tunnels than at other east London river crossings such as the Rotherhithe Tunnel or Woolwich Ferry. "
its has nothing to do with managing demand those that can afford will pay those that cant will be using a different route to avoid paying tolls
its just a money generator & wont be feed back into providing better transport links for vehicles just cyclists
The tunnel at Silvertown is a new transport link isn’t it? And they’re talking about crossings at Belvedere and Gallions reach as well - presumably they won’t all be for cyclists (who can’t use the blackwall tunnel anyway and I guess probably not the new tunnel at silvertown)
I can’t see how they’d fit tool booths in the north side of the Blackwall tunnel, how they would build them without completely screwing things up for months or how they would deal with rush hour traffic volumes without making the congestion worse once they’re operating. It also seems a bit unfair to start charging now for something that is free to use at present - it’s not like there are many alternatives that people can switch to.
I remember when the Blackwall was a single bore, 50 years on from the second bore and it needs further expansion and a 2025 Silvertown Tunnel (subject to planning permission and on target construction) would be a good solution. The toll charges would help funding and then just like the Dartford Toll when its paid in full they’ll continue to charge on and on. Whether traffic will opt for an alternative route is doubtful since a good percentage of the traffic there already is either there through necessity or is opting out of the Woolwich Ferry and Dartford Toll to the east and the Rotherhithe Tunnel and London Congestion Charge to the west.
@monkimark - there will be no toll booths. It will work same as congestion charge or Dartford crossing, by using automatic numberplate recognition cameras.
Isn’t it why we pay road tax? (fuel duty + vehicle exercise duty) Part of this goes towards roads being fixed and new ones built. Someone is trying to lobby profitable project.
supposedly back in the good ole days road taxes had to go back into the roads but then it all got changed so they could spend the money elsewhere (well I think it was 50% had to go back into the roads)… hence the shocking state of some of our raods!
Until then, for any kind of charge for motorcyclists, the way to get it revoked is to not have money ready. Get to the toll booth, stop, take off your gloves, and take your time in getting your money out. I beleive that is how the toll was removed for motorcyclist on the Dartford crossing many years ago. The motorcyclist were taking up so much time in getting their money out, that is caused signifcant delays to others, so they dropped the charge.
There’s many, many stories about how the toll was removed for motorcyclists on the Dartford crossing, all of which basically involve being a hold-up at the toll-booth (if only the car drivers had thought of that!).
They’ll have forward facing ANPR equipment. Apparently rear facing equipment at tolls causes complications, not sure I understand why but there’s a difference.
I think its a great idea, Keep all those South London Tunnel Rats over where they belong #KeepEastLondonOurs
In all seriousness, i’m not shocked. It won’t be long before we start having French Style Toll roads all over the Country and not Just the M6, I’m just shocked the government hasn’t sold off all the Motorway networks allready, it will save them Billions as they won’t have to pay out for Motorway Maintenance, and they would still keep the Vehicle Licence Fund as they will controll the “Non-Motorway” roads, The only issue with my Plan is…Who would Police the Motorways? would they then be classed as Private property??? Would you need Licence/Tax/Insurance/MOT in the eyes of the law as it’s Private Property??? (I’ve not got a clue about the Law so probably completely wrong)
We will all be soon travelling on “The Virgin Mobile M25” or the “The Tesco A406”
Trust me Sam, nobody in South London is desperate to get to Silvertown
I presume the set-up would be the same as M6 toll, which was a PFI arrangement of some sort so the contractor pays to build the road and operates/maintains/collects tolls on it for fifty years, after which is goes back into public control (wonder if the charge will be abandoned at that point). It’s still a public highway so I don’t think policing is an issue, it’s ultimately controlled by the local council/highway agency/whoever normally controls these things but there’s no doubt an incredibly complicated contract relating to all the interactions. I worked on a couple of PPP/PFI bids many years ago, the entire process seemed to be incredibly complicated - plenty of lawyers fees involved.
I don’t think the M6 toll is making much money for the contractor though as everyone uses the free M6 instead. Lesson obviously learned by tfl - just charge for the alternative as well.
We have all here in Oxfordshire that is 5p which is cute and twee, but annoying when you need to get anywhere quickly
It creates 3 mile tailbacks and people just grin and bear it.
