Will raising the toll to cross Sydney Harbour reduce congestion?
Just over a fortnight after the Sydney Harbour Bridge went cashless, tolls for vehicles crossing Sydney Harbour by either the Harbour Bridge or the Harbour Tunnel have changed to time-of-day tolling, with the amount charged dependent on the time of day.
The NSW Government has raised the toll to help reduce congestion in the city during peak times and to create enough revenue – $12 million – to supply 300 new buses.
From Tuesday 27 January 2009 the fee for crossing the Harbour from north to south will be $4 during peak periods – between 6.30-9.30am and 4.00-7.30pm Monday to Friday.
It will stay at $3 during the period of 9.30am-4.00pm Monday to Friday. In off-peak periods – midnight-6.30am and 7pm-midnight Monday to Friday, and 8.00am-8.00pm on weekends and public holidays – the toll will decrease to $2.50. Visit the RTA website for more information
The plan sounds good in theory but…
Experts are saying the congestion forecasts won’t change – unsurprising given that turning the Sydney Harbour Bridge and Tunnel cashless is also supposed to ease congestion and make the trip easier and quicker.
It has also been revealed that no extra bus or train services have been put in place to cater for the increase in the number of commuters expected to use public transport to avoid paying the increased toll price.
Will a higher toll encourage you to take public transport during peak times when crossing the Harbour? We’d especially like to hear from those who regularly make the trip.
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January 27th, 2009 at 9:36 am
Yes in theory higher tolls will mean more people will think twice before they get into their car and drive. The problem however is that the Government’s decision to introduce time-of-day tolling was a blatant revenue raising exercise and was not about easing congestion. If it was truely about congestion they would have funded more buses and trains.
When is this government going to learn that if they want people to start using public transport they need to improve it and make it a viable alternative to the car.. not a choice of last resort. Simply making the journey to work more expensive for motorists has not worked in trhe past and it will not work now.
January 27th, 2009 at 1:57 pm
Infrequent users, say no more than once a month should not be billed and should not have to contact the toll company to set up an account on any of Sydney’s toll roads. Remember there is NO free alternative route to the Harbour Bridge.
January 27th, 2009 at 3:52 pm
That is just silly. Whether or not you travel alot or a little if you travel in peak times and contribute to congestion you should pay for the congestion that you cause. Giving a free ride to ‘infrequent users’ is the antithesis of what a congestion tax is all about.
We shouldn’t fool ourselves, there is no free alternative to any road. We pay fuel taxes and registration in return for the government providing a road network.
Applying the same logic… If I only go to public hospitals or to the doctors infrequently should I not have to pay the medicare levy? If I only call the NRMA infrequently can I be excused from paying my yearly subcription? The answer to both these questions is clearly and rightly NO.
January 27th, 2009 at 6:37 pm
Jimmy, you’ve nailed it.
If the NSW govt seriously thought an increase would reduce congestion, they would have lined up more buses and more trains starting today. It would have been the FIRST thing. This is a clear indication of what this is – ripping off those people who have no choice but to pay up.
Funny how it’s only a FEW WEEKS after the etags were made compulsory too.
January 31st, 2009 at 9:10 pm
The Question on this Blog is
Will raising the toll to cross Sydney Harbour reduce congestion?
The answer is NO
Public transport in Sydney is below third world standards.
A person needs a very good reason to use it.
Oh, it’s also overpriced.
February 3rd, 2009 at 12:43 pm
I hope so, but I think increases to the charge will be needed before a significant impact is recognised.
Similar charges will also need to be applied on other major Sydney arterials.
February 6th, 2009 at 4:30 pm
This is clearly nothing but another cynical cash grab by the State Government.
Public transport in this city is sub-par and until that is fixed people will simply pay the inflated toll price.
Public transport needs to be made cheaper, more efficient and with greater capacity.
There is also a certain demographic who simply will not use public trains because they are hot, crowded, noisy and uncomfortable. These are the people who pay for a parking space in the city. Their comfort is their main concern, not the cost of getting there.
Perhaps the idea of a Business Class carriage should be trialled. Fit out a carriage with larger more comfortable seats, have tables suitable for laptops, and even maybe a Wi-Fi hotspot. You would probably need a full-time guard to check people’s tickets, but you could price it such that that would pay for itself.
February 7th, 2009 at 10:45 pm
I agree that the answer to the question posed “will it reduce congestion” is No or at least not significantly, though the reduced toll at other times is at least a nod and encouragement to the not insignificant number of journeys that -are- made at a discretionary time.
But I also think it’s premature to say that the extra revenue raised is not being used for Rail / Bus improvements. Those can’t happen overnight. I’m probably being naive, but we should give the government the opportunity to demonstrate their commitment (or not!).
February 19th, 2009 at 12:23 am
[...] Will raising the toll to cross Sydney Harbour reduce congestion … [...]
February 25th, 2009 at 7:56 am
Why would it? compare this concept…. travelling from my suburb carlingford.
I leave for work at 0615 from carlingford, to kings cross… i take a mate
i arrive at work bum in seat 0650. no tolls, victoria road the whole way,
(Free no tolls) for aprox 28 khms average speed 52 kphr
Take the M2 from pennant hills road, through lancove tunnel, across the harbour bridge, leaving the same time
averaged bum in seat 0645 for a average speed of approx 75 kphr, length of travel is around 35 km.
Cost of tolls = around 11 dollars give or take a few cents.
Take the public Transport
I have to walk 1.5kms to carlingford trainstation, catch it to clyde, transfer trains, get off at redfern, transfer again, catch the inner city line…. walk another 1 km
cost of ticket 1 way is $5
time arrive bum in seat 0735….
if i was to catch bus etc my ticket increases in price but arival time is more like 0727.
Noting i drive a 5ltr ford v8 on gas, my victoria road trip i can do a full ten days return for almost 25 worth of lpg…
So either way for me, its always been a farse paying tolls…, why is it on ther other side of the country, they have bigger wider, more efficient roadways, that are toll free, to register my car in wa is $490 for the year, which includes my third party.
Tell me honestly, how do you now feel about you’re local government now and its decision make process.
October 7th, 2009 at 4:06 pm
Ok, this is a bit of a rant, but bear with me…
I wrote a letter of complaint regarding the plan to introduce variable tolling on the Harbour Bridge to the Minister for Roads in Feb 2009 (at the time I was riding to work each day on a motorbike) and today (7th October 2009) received a letter of reply from RTA CEO Michael Bushby dated 29th September. Not a bad turn around time!
Mr Bushby states that ‘since time of tolling was introduced on 27 January, the number of cars crossing the Bridge has risen in the 5.30am to 6.30am off-peak period compared to the same time last year.’
He is, according to the figures available on PDF downloads from the RTA website correct, although this figure is less than 200 cars per day during this hour, which is anyhow, on average the quietest time on the Bridge after the lull between midnight and 5.30am). It is also fair to say that the number of cars has reduced during the peak $4 toll periods compared to the same time last year.
However, the volume of traffic at all times over the bridge (with the exception of 5.30am – 6.30am) has decreased across the board with the two peak periods actually showing the smallest % declines of any time.
One might assume that may, at least in part, be due to the loss of thousands of jobs in the city between Jan – July 2009, or everyone jumping on to public transport (unlikely as one would expect a greater impact on peak commuter travel) as figures show the use of Gladesville & Ryde bridges have increased marginally but not significantly.
The key point here is that based on the figures the RTA has on their website, even with an across the board decline in Bridge usage their revenue was increased by 3.7%. This is compared with a 7.3% reduction in revenue the RTA would have incurred if the bridge toll had stayed at $3 and we assume the same across the board decrease in usage. So the RTA have engineered some +10% difference in their revenue from less traffic – imagine what the difference would have been / will be as Sydney jobs begin to return.
I also run some statistics (basic T-tests) and cannot show any statistically significant difference in the volume of Bridge traffic in the before /after variable toll period.
In short, it would appear that this experiment has failed, commuters are still paying more for no reason, and the only winner is the State Govts bottom line!!!
I am so fed up the bureaucratic rubbish, bumbling behaviour and blatant rip off tactics of the NSW State Government!
October 27th, 2009 at 11:10 pm
NO, and it was never going to. How could it work when there are so many cars on the road. Just more revenue to go to god knows where? Sydney’s roads are a mess and can not cope. No amount of slugging the motorist (who is already paying for the right to be on the road) is going to solve the problem.
Motorists will all say the same thing, they will pay if it’s going to be a quicker option. But it’s not quicker you pay your toll and still sit in gridlock.
It’s beyond a joke and it’s high time we hold the ones responsible to some sort of accountability.
March 17th, 2010 at 10:25 am
Perhaps the most popular route should have the highest toll or even a variable toll that keeps increasing until drivers gets weary of the extra expense.
Have the additional buses been purchased yet?