To be cross I'm STILL paying the Dartford Toll

[Plsdiscuss]

Yet another auto top up leaving my bank has made me cross. There is no alternative to the crossing besides a long traffic heavy detour.

I remember being told that when the new bridge had been paid off, the charges would stop, predicted to be 2003.

Government reneged. We'll be paying this stealth road tax for ever more.

AIBU to be cross that we still have to pay?

https://www.essexlive.news/news/essex-news/dartford-crossing-supposed-free-now-8641977#amp-readmore-target

Same happened with the mersey tunnels.
Instead the council borrowed against the income from the tunnel charges. 70 years later we are still paying. The only other way to get across Via the Runcorn bridge which was free, is closed down for ' upgrading '. Forcing you to use the mersey gateway bridge which charges.
I can almost guarantee that Runcorn bridge will come with a charge when it reopens

Fuel duty has not increased in over 10 years, indeed it is 'temporarily reduced'. Whilst rail fares have gone up above inflation almost every year. Roads have been made much worse by SUVs, 99% of which are completely unnecessary and the majority of which are driven by those who would fail their driving test if that had to be re-taken.

Be glad this is the only charge that you have to pay where there is a case for it to be discontinued.

So your argument is you should just be glad it’s not worse? Things can always be worse but it’s still reasonable to think the present situation is pretty bad.

At least it's not a troll.

Same with the 'workplace parking levy' Nottingham city council decided to impart on all Nottingham employers with more than a set amount of employee parking spaces, about 15/16 years ago, to basically fund new tram lines through the city. Employers had to option to either pay it or pass the cost on to employees to pay. We've been paying it ever since and the tram has been complete for a good ten years.

That is awful. Has any campaign managed to get off the ground protesting it?

Seems fair enough it must require a lot of upkeep and everyone knows the bridge is there

Not only did the charge not get cancelled like they said it would, it has increased

It's not fair enough imo.

The toll was sold to the public as a temporary charge to pay for the building of the bridge. After the building cost was paid for, the upkeep was supposed to then come from public funds, like every other road in the country does, including the rest of the M25.

I've recently had to pay for this. I think being cross about it will get you nowhere. Chances are, more toll toads eill be built, not fewer. The thing that baffles me us how they can put the automatic charge on the Dartford crossing but if you go on the M6 toll, you have to queue up to pay at a booth. Have they not heard of ANPR?

Not that I’ve ever been made aware of, and I still work for the same employer now that I worked for when it was introduced. It’s currently £550 per parking space per year, for employers that have 11 or more parking spaces within Nottingham City Council boundaries. My employer does subsidise the cost, with three tiers based on your salary band, and you only have to pay it if you state you bring a car on site for more than 20% of your working week, so those who commute by public transport, bike or walk etc can opt out (and we have to have our cars registered for the ANPR system at the entrance so you can’t opt out but then drive to work anyway).
But yes, the council have continued to charge it despite the trams being long-paid for, and have clearly redistributed the funds for other purposes.

It’s annoying isn’t it! My ex lived south of the river and me north so I used to spend A LOT of time going over the bridge and through the tunnel and always begrudged having to pay when we was told it would be free by then! And even now 10 years later it’s still not free 😤

One argument really.

Someone has to pay for the upkeep of that infrastructure.

Either the toll disappears and the entire country pays for it. Or the toll stays and the people that use it pay for it.

Provided the charges really reflect the cost of upkeep (which must be considerable on something like that) I don't see the problem with it.

The alternative is either the whole country pays for these things through increased taxation, or we don't have them.

Either the toll disappears and the entire country pays for it. Or the toll stays and the people that use it pay for it.

This is a non argument that can be used of anything the country is taxed for.

including the rest of the M25
Dartford bridge is the A282, it's not classed as a motorway, to allow non-motorway traffic to use it (not pedestrians)

Why don't you move if you don't want to pay it?

It's not an argument. It's simply a statement of fact.

Unless there is some other alternative. Like we get France to pay for it.

You presumably benefit from it, otherwise you wouldn't use it. I don't use it and the benefit I get from it is far less than someone who does on a regular basis.

The bottom line is some things we socialise the payment of and some things we don't. I don't see a great argument for how this should be funded either way.

The Runcorn bridge is tolled now, just in case you go over it!

Well we're still paying tolls on Humber Bridge 43 laters so I wouldn't hold your breath 😩

I can guess the reaction if such tolls were abolished and replaced by the level fuel duty should have gone up by (about 25p a litre if you end the temporary reduction back in?).

If they removed the charge, demand for the bridge route would go up so you'd be sitting in traffic 🤷‍♀️

Nothing to add to the conversation but wanted to add a huge thank you for posting this. I crossed for the first time ever yesterday and had completely forgotten to pay! Having been caught out by the low emissions zone last week and forgetting to pay for that I’d have been hugely irritated. I owe you one OP 🍻

The Severn bridges are paid off and now free to cross - YANBU Dartford should be too. Can’t cost massively more to maintain than the two Severn bridges and Severn tunnel surely?

We live on the Isle of Wight, there are many who have long been campaigning for a fixed link.

Except it's not a road is it? It's a bridge. There are dozens of bridges around the UK that carry tolls.