GLASGOW City Council is considering the introduction of a toll for the Clyde Tunnel and a congestion charge in a bid to boost city finances.
Glasgow City Council will set its budget for 2025/2026 on Thursday, with council tax set to rise to fund investment in the city, Glasgow Live reports.
The move could see car registration plates scanned for drivers who don't reside at a Glasgow address.
Ricky Bell, Glasgow City Council Treasurer, underlined to Glasgow Live the importance of identifying new revenue streams to prevent the council's budget from suffering.
Bell said: "If we sit and do nothing the council budget will just get smaller and smaller and smaller."
He continued: “In the bizarre world that is Glasgow City Council, we are responsible for the Clyde Tunnel even though it’s a national infrastructure.
“One of the things we are looking at, and we’ve modelled a bit of this, is could we put a toll on the tunnel? A toll that isn’t paid by Glaswegians.
“You can do that with number plate recognition software and if your car is registered at an address in Glasgow then you don’t get charged. If you are in a suburb where they’ve maybe got a wee bit more money then you’ll get charged.”
Glasgow City Council’s SNP group previously raised the issue of the Clyde Tunnel with the Scottish Government. Funding received for operation and maintenance is the same amount per kilometre as for a standard stretch of road, which it has been estimated leads to an annual shortfall of around £820,000.
Bell continued: “the legal ability to do that, but we are obviously campaigning with the government”. The City Council is also considering a congestion charge, which would require government rule changes.
He added that there needs to be a proposal developed for congestion charging so the council can “go to the government and say this is how it would work”.
Councillor Ruairi Kelly had previously stated that he wanted the Clyde Tunnel to be funded like a trunk road, which are maintained by Transport Scotland citing the alternative would be to consider introducing a toll.
A congestion charge could see a fee paid by most vehicles which entered a specified zone between certain hours.
There is no word currently on what the toll or congestion charge could be if introduced.
