Tag Archives: nrma motoring & services

M4 Motorway now a toll free ride

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Sydney’s M4 Motorway is now toll free.

According to a survey conducted by NRMA Motoring & Services, 71 per cent of motorists supported the decision to remove the toll.

There have also been calls for the toll to be kept in place to contain the number of cars that use the motorway. Traffic on the motorway is, according to some reports, predicted to increase, as are travel times.

However, NRMA Director David Bentham said the NSW Government had made the right decision.

“Motorists have paid for the M4 and they deserve to have the motorway returned to them,” Mr Bentham said.

“Calls for the toll to be kept to fund future projects ignore the fact that NSW motorists already contribute billions to the public purse through the fuel excise, registration costs, stamp duty and other taxes and charges.”

The next motorway to come off contract is the Sydney Harbour Tunnel in 2022, followed by the M5 in 2023.

Visit the RTA’s M4 Motorway page for more information.

Do you think removing the toll will have an effect on your use of the M4? Should tolls be kept on motorways to limit the number of cars that use them? 

NSW fine revenue figures

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A News Limited investigation has found the NSW Government made $312 million in revenue from motorists in the last financial year. Six years ago the figure was less than half that, at $118 million.

Speed and red light cameras, police-issued speeding fines, parking fines and general traffic offences have all contributed to the figure, as well as rising fine costs.

In the six year period, the number of licensed drivers rose by almost half a million, from 3.6 million to 4.03 million. Despite the increase in road users, last year’s road toll was the state’s lowest since World War II, with 445 deaths.

Roads Minister Eric Roozendaal credited the tough law enforcement as the reason for the low road toll, saying the number “shows our strategies are working.”

NRMA Motoring & Services President Alan Evans disagreed, saying that the low road toll was thanks to “better drivers, better cars and better roads.”

Are the heavy penalties saving lives? Are the figures a reflection of our driving ability? Or are motorists just being bullied?

Epping Road’s cycleway – good, bad or mad?

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NRMA Motoring & Services’ President Alan Evans last week questioned the logic and safety of the proposed $7.5 million cycleway on Epping Road (SMH 14/01/08). Given that only a small number of cyclists use it, compared with the 35,000 cars each day, he said that motorists face severe congestion between Mowbray and Longueville Roads when Epping Road is converted to a singe lane of traffic, a bus lane and a cycleway.

Alan Evans states that the NRMA supports cyclists where it is safe but “imposing cycleways on major arterial roads and worsening traffic congestion in the process simply does not make sense.”

He believes that placing the cycleway next to a heavily congested arterial is not the best or safest option for Epping Road. The cycleway could create more congestion by constricting the width and number of traffic lanes. If there is a crash in the Lane Cove tunnel and traffic is diverted to the single lane on Epping Road, cars and buses could be queued back to the city.

Some of the NRMA’s suggestions forwarded to the RTA include converting the bus lane into a T2 lane to encourage car pooling and widening the traffic lanes.

Have your say about the planned cycleway for Epping Road.

Read the full article here