Tag Archives: road tolls

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? 

E-tags and cashless motorways

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After more than six months of a cashless Harbour crossing, we want to know what you think of toll roads becoming cashless and having to use e-tags.

In January this year, we reported the news that the Sydney Harbour Bridge was going cashless. As of mid-January, an e-tag or similar is needed to use either the Harbour Bridge or the Harbour Tunnel.

They are not the only motorways in Sydney that are cashless. According to the RTA-run website, Sydney Motorways, cash can still be used on the Eastern Distributor, M4, M5 and M2 – less than half of Sydney’s Motorways. With the RTA’s plans to eventually make all motorways cashless, the number of roads you can use cash on will continue to shrink.

It is clear that to drive in Sydney motorists must have an e-tag – or carefully choose their routes if they don’t. This also presents a challenge for visitors to Sydney or people who do not regularly use cashless toll roads.

Is the e-tag a help or a hindrance? Does making roads cashless speed things up and ease congestion?

For anybody who does not have an e-tag but wants to make the journey south across the Harbour Bridge, you will need to arrange a temporary pass within 48 hours of your trip by visiting myE-Toll or by phoning the RTA on 131 865.

Does a dropping road toll mean our roads are getting safer?

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The first half of 2008 saw a drop in the road toll when compared with the same period in 2007. Between January and June this year, 704 people were killed on Australia’s roads. 805 people died during the same period in 2007.

Prior to this year, road deaths had decreased only slightly – by an average of 0.9 per cent per year between 2002 and 2007. However, in the first nine months of 2008, 1,078 fatalities have occurred on our roads – a nine per cent decrease compared with the same period in 2007.

The number of bicycle riders killed between July 07 and June 08 is also down compared with the previous year, dropping by 34 per cent.

The figures indicate Australia’s road laws, and the harsh penalties for breaking them, are working. Flashing lights marking school zones, reduced speed limits, double demerits over holiday weekends and more restrictions on P-platers all appear to be helping to save lives.

The statistics are saying our roads are getting safer, but are they? If the figure is the result of our road laws, do we make penalties for breaking them even tougher to bring this figure down further?