The Tyne Tunnel would be suffering from “significant delays” if bosses had not pressed ahead with its controversial new cashless toll system.
It was claimed on Thursday that a surge in traffic levels at the crossing, which is busier than it has been for seven years, would be causing severe tailbacks if the old toll barriers were still in place. They were removed last November in favour of a new ‘free flow’ scheme designed to cut queuing and pollution, with drivers now having to pay either online, with a pre-paid account, over the phone, or in shops with PayPoint counters.
But the new ‘Tyne Pass’ project has proved unpopular with many motorists, with multiple problems with the payment system being reported – including fines being wrongly issued to people living hundreds of miles away. The switchover has been branded an “absolute disaster” and more than 20,000 people have signed one petition calling for major changes from tunnel operator TT2.
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But the impact of the scheme was praised in front of councillors on Thursday, after a surge in traffic levels through the tunnel. Despite the ongoing fuel price crisis, 1.54m vehicles went through the tunnel in May – the highest monthly total since 2015 and 9% above expected levels. Fiona Bootle, Tyne Tunnels manager for Transport North East, told the North East Joint Transport Committee’s Tyne and Wear sub-committee: “With the increase in traffic we are seeing at the moment, we are really glad this [Tyne Pass] is here.
"With 60,000 vehicles rather than 50,000 going through per day, if this scheme had not been in place we would have significant delays at the Tyne Tunnel.” The barrierless system has resulted in average journey time boosts of 39 seconds northbound and 26 seconds southbound since coming into force, though at peak times the improvement has been as much as eight minutes.
The percentage of drivers being issued with fines for non-payment of tolls has dropped from 5.39% in November to 3.26% in May, though that still means more than 50,000 penalty notices were issued. TT2 has received more than £8m in revenue from unpaid toll penalties from November 8 last year to May 31.
Ms Bootle told Thursday’s committee that opponents of the Tyne Pass scheme had made some “unhelpful and misleading” comments, but that some action had been taken in response to concerns – including a marketing campaign being launched and clearer information about enforcement being posted online. However, she said it was “not practical” to pursue a request to cancel all fines prior to January 2022 or reduce the size of the £30 penalty for non-payment without “significant” funding to do so being made available from local or national government.
A review of the Tyne Pass system’s effectiveness is due to be held this summer, with a report due to come back to councillors in September.
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