Article: Gateway Motorway e-tolls drive users away

[ozbob]

From the Courier Mail click here!

Gateway Motorway e-tolls drive users away

Gateway Motorway e-tolls drive users away
Article from: The Courier-Mail

Ursula Heger

September 07, 2009 12:00am

THOUSANDS of southeast Queensland drivers have abandoned Brisbane's Gateway Motorway since the introduction of cashless tolling.

More than 52,000 motorists avoided the cashless tolls last month compared with August 2008, increasing congestion on the Pacific Motorway.

Data released by the Department of Transport and Main Roads shows on average 91,708 vehicles used the Gateway Bridge per day last month, almost 1700 fewer each day compared with the same time last year.

The Logan Motorway, which also switched to cashless tolling in July, had 750 fewer users a day last month compared with figures for August last year.

The decline follows a string of difficulties with the new system, with Queensland Motorways recently forced to waive $7 late fees for motorists because its voice-activated toll payment hotline was malfunctioning.

The spokesman for peak motoring body RACQ, Gary Fites, said the lack of information about how casual bridge motorists can use the system was prompting drivers to find alternate routes.

"Some of the more casual users have been persuaded to resort to other routes until their uncertainty is resolved," Mr Fites said.

"The fact is that particularly those who didn't already have tags (when it opened) would be unsure of how the system works and if you are unsure and you think that you might get a fine it is pretty natural to want to avoid the tolls."

But Mr Fites said that he expected traffic on the routes would improve as the population of the southeast grows.

"One might reasonably think they will get those numbers back once users are reassured they can use the facility without the risk of penalty charges," Mr Fites said.

Australian Traffic Network reporter Nigel Riley said congestion had worsened on the M1 since the closure of the toll booths, but the cashless system had improved congestion on both the Gateway and Logan Motorways.

Main Roads Minister Craig Wallace said he was not concerned by the drop in the number of motorists using the bridge, attributing it to fluctuations in traffic and higher public transport use.

[O_128]

WOW imagine what a city tax would do!

[Derwan]

WOW imagine what a city tax would do!

Exactly!!  People would avoid driving in the city!  Perfect!!

Some of the blog comments are astounding.  What a bunch of technophobes!  No matter how often or little you use the Gateway Bridge, an eTag is the best option - and has been for years.  Some people are just too stuck in their ways to change.

[Emmie]

I think this argument is based on a false correlation anyway.  A. E-tolls came in in August; B. numbers on the Gateway dropped in August.  But I don't think A necessarily caused B.

I drove to the Gold Coast yesterday via the Gateway bridge - with e-toll in place and working fine - and the traffic was horrendous, not because of the numbers of cars, but because there are so many road works at the moment that cars were regularly funnelled into fewer lanes - down to a single lane at one point.

So I drove back through the City.  Nothing to do with the E-toll, just a rational decision to avoid traffic.  And yes, I would have preferred to take public transport, but GC PT is hopeless on a Sunday.

[Sunbus610]

Sort of makes you wonder if this was partly their intension anyway so as not to inhibit too much all the road works going on out that way

[justanotheruser]

naturally people are going to avoid it as the information given on where to pay is not clear. Many people come into my work saying they were told they could pay at any BP or Caltex but that is not correct. Very few service stations accept payment. It was not even offered to most servos to be able to accept payment.