Comments on: E-tags and cashless motorways http://www.mynrmacommunity.com/motoring/2009/07/30/e-tags-and-cashless-motorways/ Road safety, road rules, fuels, car care and everyday driving - NRMA Motoring & Services Fri, 03 Feb 2012 02:30:05 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 By: Physter http://www.mynrmacommunity.com/motoring/2009/07/30/e-tags-and-cashless-motorways/#comment-8230 Physter Sun, 22 Jan 2012 01:04:21 +0000 http://www.mynrmacommunity.com/motoring/?p=84#comment-8230 I yeah thank you NRMA employee for regurgitation what you boss just told you to write. I yeah thank you NRMA employee for regurgitation what you boss just told you to write.

]]> By: Physter http://www.mynrmacommunity.com/motoring/2009/07/30/e-tags-and-cashless-motorways/#comment-8229 Physter Sun, 22 Jan 2012 00:57:32 +0000 http://www.mynrmacommunity.com/motoring/?p=84#comment-8229 Well tough luck, we will charge you tax on your fuel as well as an excise tax we will make you pay for a green slip, pink slip, comprehensive insurance. Income tax and GST and then you will still need to pay for the roads you use so you can pay a TOLL as well. We won't offer employment through toll booths we will make it fully automated and then we will charge you extra hidden fees such as a vehicle identification charge and an E-TAG. And if you don't pay these charges within 2 days we will charge you some more. Do you feel better now that I'V explained that for you? Well tough luck, we will charge you tax on your fuel as well as an excise tax we will make you pay for a green slip, pink slip, comprehensive insurance. Income tax and GST and then you will still need to pay for the roads you use so you can pay a TOLL as well. We won’t offer employment through toll booths we will make it fully automated and then we will charge you extra hidden fees such as a vehicle identification charge and an E-TAG. And if you don’t pay these charges within 2 days we will charge you some more. Do you feel better now that I’V explained that for you?

]]> By: IAN http://www.mynrmacommunity.com/motoring/2009/07/30/e-tags-and-cashless-motorways/#comment-3941 IAN Tue, 17 Aug 2010 01:20:25 +0000 http://www.mynrmacommunity.com/motoring/?p=84#comment-3941 I HAVE JUST RETURNED TO BRISBANE AFTER VISITING CONTRY NSW. I HAD DRIVEN THE NEW ENGLAND HIGHWAY GOING DOWN AND ENJOYED THE DRIVE STOPPING OVERNIGHT ETC. I WAS TOLD THAT RETURNING THE PACIFIC HWAY DRIVE WAS THE ONLY WAY TO SEE THE SIGHTS VIA THE COAST AND WOULD BE VERY ENJOYABLE. SO OFF I TOOK AND WENT UP THROUGH NEWCASTLE ONLY TO FIND MYSLF ON THE M7 AND NEW TO THIS TOLLWAY. A PHONE NUMBER WAS WELL IDENTIFIED AND PAY IN 48 HOURS, ONLY PROBLEM HOW DO I PAY WITH NO PHONE NO CREDIT CARD AND I WANTED TO TAKE MY TIME GETTING BACK TO BRISBANE STAYING OVER A COUPLE OF NIGHTS ON THE WAY BACK. I GET BACK TO BRISBANE PHONED ON MONDAY NIGHT AND SEEMED TO WAIT FOREVER ON THE PHONE JUST TO SPEAK WITH AN OPPERATOR, I EVENTUALLY HUNG UP AS NO ONE CAME BACK TO ME AND I COULD HAVE WAITED IN LIMBO FOR HOURS. I THOUGHT I WILL PHONE IN BUSINESS HOURS ON TUESDAY. WHEN I PHONED ON TUESDAY I DID NOT WAIT LONG AND THEN EXPLAINED MY SITUATION. I WAS TOLD THAT BECAUSE I HADN'T PHONED WITHIN 48 HOURS I WOULD HAVE TO WAIT UNTIL I RECEIVED A NOTICE IN THE MAIL THAT COULD TAKE 4 WEEKS AND COULD PAY AT A POST OFFICE FROM THAT, PLUS IT WOULD COST ME AN EXTRA $10.00. I ASK THAT SURELY THIS CAN BE DONE BETTER FOR VISITORS AND NOT AS A GREAT RIP OFF THAT AS MANY THINGS IN OUR MODERN WORLD IS. BECAUSE OF THIS I WILL ENDEAVOUR NOT TO USE TOLL ROADS AND IF IT MEANS TAKING ME LONGER AND COSTING MORE IN FUEL THEN SO BE IT. IT SEEMS THAT THE RTA HAVE NOT REALLY CONSIDERED GETTING THEIR ACT TOGETHER IN LOOKING AFTER THE TRAVELLER, BUT PLEASE IF YOU WANT US TO HOLLIDAY IN NSW THEN MAKE IT MEMORABLE IN A PLEASANT WAY. SO THAT WE WANT TO COME BACK. A SUGGESTION WOULD BE THAT THE TOLL COULD BE PAID AT CERTAIN GARAGES ALONG THE TRIP. REMEMBER MANY PEOPLE DO NOT HAVE CREDIT CARDS AND WISH TO PAY BY CASH. MY LAST COMMENT IS THAT DO THE RTA READ THESE COMMENTS AND TAKE NOTICE OR DOES SOMEONE SAY OH! ANOTHER WHINGER. I HAVE JUST RETURNED TO BRISBANE AFTER VISITING CONTRY NSW. I HAD DRIVEN THE NEW ENGLAND HIGHWAY GOING DOWN AND ENJOYED THE DRIVE STOPPING OVERNIGHT ETC. I WAS TOLD THAT RETURNING THE PACIFIC HWAY DRIVE WAS THE ONLY WAY TO SEE THE SIGHTS VIA THE COAST AND WOULD BE VERY ENJOYABLE. SO OFF I TOOK AND WENT UP THROUGH NEWCASTLE ONLY TO FIND MYSLF ON THE M7 AND NEW TO THIS TOLLWAY. A PHONE NUMBER WAS WELL IDENTIFIED AND PAY IN 48 HOURS, ONLY PROBLEM HOW DO I PAY WITH NO PHONE NO CREDIT CARD AND I WANTED TO TAKE MY TIME GETTING BACK TO BRISBANE STAYING OVER A COUPLE OF NIGHTS ON THE WAY BACK. I GET BACK TO BRISBANE PHONED ON MONDAY NIGHT AND SEEMED TO WAIT FOREVER ON THE PHONE JUST TO SPEAK WITH AN OPPERATOR, I EVENTUALLY HUNG UP AS NO ONE CAME BACK TO ME AND I COULD HAVE WAITED IN LIMBO FOR HOURS. I THOUGHT I WILL PHONE IN BUSINESS HOURS ON TUESDAY. WHEN I PHONED ON TUESDAY I DID NOT WAIT LONG AND THEN EXPLAINED MY SITUATION. I WAS TOLD THAT BECAUSE I HADN’T PHONED WITHIN 48 HOURS I WOULD HAVE TO WAIT UNTIL I RECEIVED A NOTICE IN THE MAIL THAT COULD TAKE 4 WEEKS AND COULD PAY AT A POST OFFICE FROM THAT, PLUS IT WOULD COST ME AN EXTRA $10.00. I ASK THAT SURELY THIS CAN BE DONE BETTER FOR VISITORS AND NOT AS A GREAT RIP OFF THAT AS MANY THINGS IN OUR MODERN WORLD IS.
BECAUSE OF THIS I WILL ENDEAVOUR NOT TO USE TOLL ROADS AND IF IT MEANS TAKING ME LONGER AND COSTING MORE IN FUEL THEN SO BE IT. IT SEEMS THAT THE RTA HAVE NOT REALLY CONSIDERED GETTING THEIR ACT TOGETHER IN LOOKING AFTER THE TRAVELLER, BUT PLEASE IF YOU WANT US TO HOLLIDAY IN NSW THEN MAKE IT MEMORABLE IN A PLEASANT WAY. SO THAT WE WANT TO COME BACK.
A SUGGESTION WOULD BE THAT THE TOLL COULD BE PAID AT CERTAIN GARAGES ALONG THE TRIP. REMEMBER MANY PEOPLE DO NOT HAVE CREDIT CARDS AND WISH TO PAY BY CASH. MY LAST COMMENT IS THAT DO THE RTA READ THESE COMMENTS AND TAKE NOTICE OR DOES SOMEONE SAY OH! ANOTHER WHINGER.

]]> By: Chris http://www.mynrmacommunity.com/motoring/2009/07/30/e-tags-and-cashless-motorways/#comment-3849 Chris Thu, 22 Jul 2010 09:24:17 +0000 http://www.mynrmacommunity.com/motoring/?p=84#comment-3849 Basically electronic collection of tolls work great for tollway operators.Not only are they gauranteed the actual toll is paid for each journey they can also levy a raft of charges if you don't comply to the complex conditions of use. The money being quietly direct debited out of your bank account whenever they like. For road users electronic toll collection is big negative. Anyone who thinks otherwise is probably an employee of a tollway operator. As long as cash is legal tender it should always be legal to pay in cash. I note on visiting the USA that all tollways i encountered had a cash option , in fact cash was the main option.Why do we in Australia have to bow down to corporate interests? Best option is to avoid all tolls & hence starve the operators of funds.This will at least make the banks which fund these projects think twice before they fund the next white elephant eg cross city tunnel & lane cove tunnel. The problem with the harbour bridge & tunnel is there is no viable free harbour crossing consequently it shoud never have become cashless.Currently is you cross the bridge without a tag you will receive a toll notice in the post from the RTA for $7.50. This is preferable to complying with the crazy Etag/pass regulations & charges, at least for the infrequent user like myself. I note also the the harbour tunnel & bridges will revert to Government ownership in the future (as the M4 did recently) Will that mean the lifting of the toll as happened with the M4 or are we to be saddled with this toll + congestion tolling forever. Basically electronic collection of tolls work great for tollway operators.Not only are they gauranteed the actual toll is paid for each journey they can also levy a raft of charges if you don’t comply to the complex conditions of use. The money being quietly direct debited out of your bank account whenever they like.
For road users electronic toll collection is big negative.
Anyone who thinks otherwise is probably an employee of a tollway operator.
As long as cash is legal tender it should always be legal to pay in cash. I note on visiting the USA that all tollways i encountered had a cash option , in fact cash was the main option.Why do we in Australia have to bow down to corporate interests?

Best option is to avoid all tolls & hence starve the operators of funds.This will at least make the banks which fund these projects think twice before they fund the next white elephant eg cross city tunnel & lane cove tunnel.

The problem with the harbour bridge & tunnel is there is no viable free harbour crossing consequently it shoud never have become cashless.Currently is you cross the bridge without a tag you will receive a toll notice in the post from the RTA for $7.50. This is preferable to complying with the crazy Etag/pass regulations & charges, at least for the infrequent user like myself.

I note also the the harbour tunnel & bridges will revert to Government ownership in the future (as the M4 did recently) Will that mean the lifting of the toll as happened with the M4 or are we to be saddled with this toll + congestion tolling forever.

]]> By: Woody http://www.mynrmacommunity.com/motoring/2009/07/30/e-tags-and-cashless-motorways/#comment-3811 Woody Tue, 06 Jul 2010 20:57:38 +0000 http://www.mynrmacommunity.com/motoring/?p=84#comment-3811 As a vsitor to Sydney who didn't realise their wasn't a cash option to cross the bridge I find its amazing there is no way to pay the fee late without being penalised. In Brisbane visitors have 3 days to pay with an On-line option. Becuase I was in a rental car this crossing will cost me about $40 for a simple mistake I genuinely wasn't aware of. Surely there must be a more fair way to treat visitors to Sydney. As a vsitor to Sydney who didn’t realise their wasn’t a cash option to cross the bridge I find its amazing there is no way to pay the fee late without being penalised. In Brisbane visitors have 3 days to pay with an On-line option. Becuase I was in a rental car this crossing will cost me about $40 for a simple mistake I genuinely wasn’t aware of. Surely there must be a more fair way to treat visitors to Sydney.

]]> By: London Mortgage Calculator http://www.mynrmacommunity.com/motoring/2009/07/30/e-tags-and-cashless-motorways/#comment-3778 London Mortgage Calculator Wed, 23 Jun 2010 10:25:04 +0000 http://www.mynrmacommunity.com/motoring/?p=84#comment-3778 Cash is generally going out of fashion anyway, it's all cards as lenders want us to spend whenever necessary without worrying about what money we really have. A toll will mean that people will pay because they have to travel, and barely think twice about how it all adds to their current debt. Cash is generally going out of fashion anyway, it’s all cards as lenders want us to spend whenever necessary without worrying about what money we really have. A toll will mean that people will pay because they have to travel, and barely think twice about how it all adds to their current debt.

]]> By: Wayne from Tamworth http://www.mynrmacommunity.com/motoring/2009/07/30/e-tags-and-cashless-motorways/#comment-3420 Wayne from Tamworth Sat, 13 Mar 2010 21:46:46 +0000 http://www.mynrmacommunity.com/motoring/?p=84#comment-3420 Cop this! Country motorists are to be slugged $50 to help ease city congestion and improve YOUR roads. How about we get to use YOUR tollways for free? Or how about this thievery (sorry- tax) is used to fix up the atrocious country road in NSW? By the way, how come big business is making money out of what a government should be supplying anyway? The ultimate insult to the taxpayer is when the government agrees to fund the tollways when big business stuffs up and runs at a loss (TOUGH). Cop this! Country motorists are to be slugged $50 to help ease city congestion and improve YOUR roads. How about we get to use YOUR tollways for free? Or how about this thievery (sorry- tax) is used to fix up the atrocious country road in NSW?
By the way, how come big business is making money out of what a government should be supplying anyway? The ultimate insult to the taxpayer is when the government agrees to fund the tollways when big business stuffs up and runs at a loss (TOUGH).

]]> By: Igor http://www.mynrmacommunity.com/motoring/2009/07/30/e-tags-and-cashless-motorways/#comment-3153 Igor Fri, 29 Jan 2010 06:52:46 +0000 http://www.mynrmacommunity.com/motoring/?p=84#comment-3153 I don't agree with e-tags or or any other form of collecting money from the people to give to corporations. Problem is 99% of people are goats and suckers and do what they're told without objection. I don’t agree with e-tags or or any other form of collecting money from the people to give to corporations. Problem is 99% of people are goats and suckers and do what they’re told without objection.

]]> By: Mark http://www.mynrmacommunity.com/motoring/2009/07/30/e-tags-and-cashless-motorways/#comment-3149 Mark Thu, 28 Jan 2010 03:25:54 +0000 http://www.mynrmacommunity.com/motoring/?p=84#comment-3149 281 responses so far. After about half an hour of reading through them, it seems at least 275 of them are negative. If this was a government poll, the statistics would be alarmingly obvious - the current e-tag system is EXTREMELY unpopular! The main points of complaint: 1. Unfair to visitors to Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane - deliberate ploy to reduce traffic in the cities. 2. Hellish bureaucratic nightmare to deal in any way with the RTA or toll road owners - obviously these people do not want you to deal with them. They don't want you to call, they just want your money. And cash is too fiddly for them - they want your credit card details. Oh, and all your other details too. 3. The fact that we are forced to pay tolls at all. This is a big one. New roads are traditionally paid for by levies on our registration and fuel. The levies are still there, presumably making the govt more money that ever in history, but each new road comes with a toll. New roads are built not to make it better for us residents, they're built to make some private entity money. They get very upset when this doesn't work - like the Cross City Tunnel, so they close alternate routes and funnel us like rats into their stinking traps, where our money silently vanishes from our bank accounts. This is theft. There's no other word for it. It is inconceivable that we have allowed it to happen. It's just another example of our shameful apathy, which will eventually rob us of many other freedoms that most of us used to take for granted. 4. The refusal of the toll thieves to accept Australian legal tender. You can't even pay for you tag with cash. You can't pay the tolls with cash. How was this made legal? If they won't put a person at their toll extraction points to accept our money, that is not our fault. We should just leave small piles of change at the booths and drive on. 5. The cashless system has done very little to reduce traffic congestion. Umm, I don't think that was even part of the plan. The cashless system saves money on toll collectors wages and sorting mountains of coins. 6. Unreasonable fines for not complying with the system. "Administration fees" of $10 and more because you didn't know you balance had run out or that you were even on a toll road or their scanner didn't register your tag (this has happened to me on a few occasions). Who came up with that figure? The notices sent are designed like a speeding fine or some other penalty for actually breaking a meaningful law, to make us feel we've been really naughty. Made to feel like a criminal for driving on the road! I could go on but I'm getting too angry. We have been sold an unfair and deliberately underhand extra tax by the RTA and unscrupulous politicians hoping for a big payout. Blaaaah to you all! 281 responses so far.

After about half an hour of reading through them, it seems at least 275 of them are negative. If this was a government poll, the statistics would be alarmingly obvious – the current e-tag system is EXTREMELY unpopular!

The main points of complaint:

1. Unfair to visitors to Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane – deliberate ploy to reduce traffic in the cities.

2. Hellish bureaucratic nightmare to deal in any way with the RTA or toll road owners – obviously these people do not want you to deal with them. They don’t want you to call, they just want your money. And cash is too fiddly for them – they want your credit card details. Oh, and all your other details too.

3. The fact that we are forced to pay tolls at all. This is a big one. New roads are traditionally paid for by levies on our registration and fuel. The levies are still there, presumably making the govt more money that ever in history, but each new road comes with a toll. New roads are built not to make it better for us residents, they’re built to make some private entity money. They get very upset when this doesn’t work – like the Cross City Tunnel, so they close alternate routes and funnel us like rats into their stinking traps, where our money silently vanishes from our bank accounts. This is theft. There’s no other word for it. It is inconceivable that we have allowed it to happen. It’s just another example of our shameful apathy, which will eventually rob us of many other freedoms that most of us used to take for granted.

4. The refusal of the toll thieves to accept Australian legal tender. You can’t even pay for you tag with cash. You can’t pay the tolls with cash. How was this made legal? If they won’t put a person at their toll extraction points to accept our money, that is not our fault. We should just leave small piles of change at the booths and drive on.

5. The cashless system has done very little to reduce traffic congestion. Umm, I don’t think that was even part of the plan. The cashless system saves money on toll collectors wages and sorting mountains of coins.

6. Unreasonable fines for not complying with the system. “Administration fees” of $10 and more because you didn’t know you balance had run out or that you were even on a toll road or their scanner didn’t register your tag (this has happened to me on a few occasions). Who came up with that figure? The notices sent are designed like a speeding fine or some other penalty for actually breaking a meaningful law, to make us feel we’ve been really naughty. Made to feel like a criminal for driving on the road!

I could go on but I’m getting too angry. We have been sold an unfair and deliberately underhand extra tax by the RTA and unscrupulous politicians hoping for a big payout.

Blaaaah to you all!

]]> By: rodo http://www.mynrmacommunity.com/motoring/2009/07/30/e-tags-and-cashless-motorways/#comment-2990 rodo Thu, 29 Oct 2009 22:07:06 +0000 http://www.mynrmacommunity.com/motoring/?p=84#comment-2990 This Etag is the most foreign tourist unfriendly system. Have foreign tourists visiting Australia have still the right not to speak English ? How do you want them to understand when they go over the gateway bridge in Brisbane that they have to connect on the net or pick up the phone to pay for a toll fee. This is ludicrous and quite an outrage in fact. This Etag is the most foreign tourist unfriendly system. Have foreign tourists visiting Australia have still the right not to speak English ? How do you want them to understand when they go over the gateway bridge in Brisbane that they have to connect on the net or pick up the phone to pay for a toll fee. This is ludicrous and quite an outrage in fact.

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