Dartford

Have the new tolls made any difference to your journey?

Susan Cook
Please please get rid of the crossing the pollution on a hot day last summer made us feel sick while waiting half an hour to cross. I do this journey once a week, I thought the Government wanted to reduce pollution and GET BRITAIN MOVING!
Mon Mar 29 13:35:23 2010

Paul Graveson
Causing a traffic jam with the barriers and then charging drivers for the pleasure queuing when may are trying to get home to their families is symptomatic of today's society - charge because you can! The tolls should be free if they start to cause large queues.
Sun Oct 4 07:39:04 2009

ray morris
I think that the tolls are a scandal. Every day thousands of vehicles line up to pay causing massive pollution. I don't beleive that our government is committed to green issues, otherwise they would scrap the tolls. I fear that it is just a money making racket.
Sat Oct 3 07:06:17 2009

Mike Giles
No difference to me since I rarely use the crossing, but it makes so much sense to scrap the tolls and let the traffic flow freely. Come on you powers-that-be, doing something to help protect the environment and help the motorist for once!
Sat Oct 3 07:06:07 2009

ed stone
..haha i like the idea of someone on here paying the toll by very loose change...i must make sure to take 5p pieces next time...sorry to those behind me
Fri Oct 2 22:43:09 2009

ed stone
the tolls are a farce, taking our hard earnt cash, hasnt the toll bridge been paid for years ago, this is a sad situation we are in, i despise the cost of travelling in a traffic queue
Fri Oct 2 22:38:44 2009

Sally Potter
The new tolls seem to have made the congestion worse, as each barrier has to process more coins - a minimum of 2 instead of 1. This inevitably slows the whole process down. It seems in this digital age, positively archaic that we still have to use coins and a mechanical barrier to take money that was not supposed to even be charged by now. When there is severe congestion the operators should be allowed to remove the costs to free up the traffic temporarily at least. It has on occasion added 1 hour to a journey of 1.5 hours! The additional pollution, stress and danger must contribute to a case to do something - it must be the laughing stock of European roads now!
Fri Oct 2 19:47:48 2009

Segun Stephen
I think we should all protest and make our voices heard by the Authorities. When caught in the Queue, it is can be so frustrating. We need to cooperate and make our feelings known. That is the only way out. IMO, the tolls should be scrapped. The amount we pay for road tax and petrol is high enough. Enough said
Fri Oct 2 19:13:09 2009

James Cruickshank
The bridge has been paid for long ago. Its time to remove the tolls altogether. I use the crossing every week. The congestion costs me hours of time which is money to me as a self employed entrepreneur Scrap the toll now - the Government had its money back years ago
Fri Oct 2 19:02:45 2009

Bernard Branson
The amount of vehicles with engines running for hours waiting to cross the bridge or tunnel makes a mockery of putting bottles in a bottle bank or other global warming prevention ideas. This is NOT a government intent on energy saving.
Fri Oct 2 18:57:10 2009

Rhiannon
Scrap the tolls both ways, get rid of the congestion completely. They have made there money 10x over for that crossing. I`m sick of queing day in day out, even the "no change given" lanes are slow because they constantly jam or miss count your change.
Fri Oct 2 18:44:20 2009

S Samson
The tolls have to go - they cause nothing but queues even at quiet times. It's not that I object to paying, the issue is being forced to sit in huge queues. The congestion must cause more environmental damage than free-flowing traffic.
Fri Oct 2 18:42:53 2009

Tony Coleman
I am a resident of Gravesend, I have to travel to Belvedere everyday, I am constantly sitting in traffic on Bob Dunn Way as traffic is queuing to get onto the M25 Dartford Tunnel approach. Its an absolute joke, the traffic should be left to flow in Both directions.
Fri Oct 2 18:40:04 2009

David Eyre
I am a regular user of the crossing, and a DartTag user.Te congestion has not changed at all as a result of the increased charges. People have to cross the river and therefore have to pay this tax to do so.The people crossing the river to the west of London on the M25 do not have to do so and the congestion is just as bad there. To repeatedly hear the argument being put that the tolls are to regulate congestion is factious and an insult to users. The tolls and barriers should be done away with immediately and traffic will improve immediately. Of course there will delays when traffic flows are very high, it happens everywhere,but there would not be the regular artificial delays caused by the toll booths.
Fri Oct 2 17:29:22 2009

Elliot Joseph
The powercut was actually on the southside i.e. for northbound traffic, so why would they want to consider scrapping southbound tolls, surely the dartford residents deserve a break from all the traffic and congestion what with having to put up with all the M25/A2/A282 improvements over the lat three years!!! I say scrap the tolls both sides, period!!!
Fri Oct 2 16:07:43 2009

Catherine O'Sullivan
I live in Essex and have a lot of family and friends in Kent. I am contantly sitting in traffic between junction 28 and 30 of the M25 because of congestion at the Dartford Crossing. It can sometimes take an hour or more to reach the tolls. I am considering not making this journey anymore. It has definitely got worse over the last year or so. I think the tolls should be scrapped and traffic allowed to run smoothly into Kent and vice versa. For me the money is not an issue. I'd be happy to pay the £1.50 were it not for the terrible delays and congestion this causes!
Fri Oct 2 13:16:16 2009

Colin Bartlett
Absolutely! I only use the crossing when necessary. That means that I no longer go shopping at Bluewater. When I do use the crossing, I pay my £1.50 in pennys and insist that they count it. I'd hate to think that I'd short change them! It's a small and petty protest which causes more congestion, but it's the only practical form of protest that I can think of. The Government aren't interested in easing congestion. It's simply another cash cow, and they won't change.
Fri Aug 28 15:33:27 2009

dave sergeant
The new tolls have delayed the traffic so much that nearly every evening in the rush hours there is over a 2 hr delay from junction 28
Fri Aug 28 14:39:46 2009

Ann Collins
The cost to the environment of cars queuing for what can be up to an hour so that £1.50 can be collected by KCC is outrageous. I support elderly parents who live in Buckinghamshire. The last few times I have travelled the North M25 route I have queued for an hour to cross - this combined with M25 roadworks meant that a 106 mile journey took me 4 hours!I have now vowed never to use the tunnel unless it is absolutely unavoidable.
Fri Aug 28 10:47:27 2009

Peter G
I've got the local resident scheme but I only cross at weekends as life's too short to queue during the week. The barriers are silly. In Austria they manage to collect Autobahn tolls at driving speed from Tag equipped vehicles
Fri Aug 28 09:30:41 2009

Patricia Curtis
Not a lot but when ever we use the tunnel we always has at least a 20min que. All that polution and frustration. We should do away with the barriers read numberplates as cars etc go through and charge accordingly or charge like the congestion charge of London. In Sydney Australia that is how they charge for using there bridge. Take note Gordon Brown is always going on about the envorment. We have a hybrid car our dustbin has been put out for collection 3 times this year we recycle everthing a pity we cannot recycle Gordon Brown.
Wed Aug 12 14:23:41 2009

david harman
as the tolls are obviously here to stay, and there is nothing we can do about it, why can we not change the system to that of the severn bridge and only pay one way!! essex bound i imagine still needs crossing patrols escorting tankers, in this way we get no queue southbound and le crossing keep their revenue, traffic can be slowed with the new average speed cameras, the highways agency will say the road is over capacity, yet they will still press ahead with widening the essex section into the dartford crossing, the queue can only get worse,
Mon Aug 10 21:43:18 2009

Simon S
How do you think I feel? I don't even need to cross the bridge yet spend an increasing amount of my remaining decreasing life sitting in queues every evening just so I can exit at J30!
Mon Aug 10 19:34:30 2009

Darren
Since the new tolls came in back in November, the traffic congestion at the tolls seems to have increased (ontop of already long delays). I believe that this is due to the fact that the toll has been raised to £1.50, and thus reducing the ammount of people who can use the auto tolls as fewer people have the exact change. And often those who do use the auto tolls are not aware of the new charges thus causing even further delays as they sit there waiting for an opperator to explain that they havn't enough money! witht eh bridge being oaid for a number of years ago, the only reason they can seriously have for keeping a toll in place is to cover the costs of the day-to-day running which if removed would not require a toll. It might not be so bad if the people taking your 1.50 each time showed a little cheers like they do in the US! at least it would feel like they appriciated you sitting there for up to an hour just to pay 1.50!
Wed Jul 29 17:30:15 2009

gab
disgusting,paid for this years ago and now its gone up 50%joke government joke country.....we need to blockade it and cause some friction!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Thu Jun 25 18:53:33 2009

Michael Bird
The cost of using the crossing is not the biggest issue, it is the congestion the tolls cause. If the government cannot bear to lose the revenue they could at least only impose a charge one way (say Northbound as the tunnels are slower anyway)but charge double thus maintaining the revenue.
Tue May 5 17:53:55 2009

Tor Lundegard
It is the toll booths that cause congestion. We do not use this route if we can avoid it. The day will come when cars for we OAPs are so overtaxed that we will stop using them - then what will replace their tax revenues?
Sun Apr 26 19:36:02 2009

Brian Morley
I refer to my previous comment, posted on November 28, 2008, with regard to the Dartford Crossing toll. I have just heard, yet again, on the TV local news, that there is STILL some great intent to construct yet another crossing to "reduce" the delays at the tolls. I still cannot believe the stupidity of those concerned who cannot see that by taking away the toll booths, as was originally intended and expected a number of years ago,the traffic coming from one of the UK's busiest motorways would easily flow in both directions of the crossing without any need to spend millions on a new crossing. When are we going to get someone with some common sense in places of power ????
Mon Apr 20 19:33:39 2009

Dorothy M. Turner
I'm an O.A.P and a Kent resident,and I feel that a £2 return charge is more than sufficient.Nevertheless I agree with Brian Lambert.
Sat Apr 18 07:54:35 2009

Mr P.R.Johnson
I have benefited from the new charges as I live in the Dartford area , but to me their is an obvious traffic build up due in my opinion to the extra 50p which must cause a delay in people rquiring change , whereas whe it was a straightforward £1 traffic flowed much better .
Thu Mar 19 07:31:25 2009

Brian Lambert
I have listened this morning to the minister who I feel has no idea about Congestion at or around the Dartford crossing!The congestion isn’t caused by the roads either side of the crossing, but by the Plaza booths themselves, where traffic is halted and held pending paying the ridiculous charges. There are two tunnels with four road lanes between them and the bridge has four lanes too. That’s one more lane each way then the M25 has upon exiting the tunnels!!!Oh please well all know the crossing tolls are nothing more than a another tax on the motorist and help keeps the government coffers full! Abolish the toll, remove the booths and open it up to allow a totally free flow of traffic.
Wed Mar 4 16:04:00 2009

Steve Darwell
we pay enough road tax. no more tolls or loose the road tax, one or the other, not both
Tue Feb 10 07:31:47 2009

Mike Lockyear
I am getting on in years but I am not too old to remember that the toll was oringinally justified to 'pay for the improvements' viz the then new bridge. This has now been paid for - couple of years ago in fact. So why do we still have a toll - that was the deal.Yet again you can't believe them can you.
Wed Feb 4 20:23:06 2009

David Cox
You only have to cross the bridge, to see the problems that the tolls cause, to see the trafic held up. and the Goverments broken promises.relating to doing away with the Tolls.
Wed Feb 4 17:16:36 2009

Jackie Martin
It should be opened, when its very busy.That extra 50p takes a second extra to putin, therefore 250,000 cars at an extra second..gridlock everyday!
Tue Feb 3 13:11:00 2009

Matt T
This 50% hike in the cost of crossing is completely unacceptable. They are providing a service to customers and clearly, from other comments left, we their customers are utterly dissatisfied with this decision on the grounds of cost, delays and congestion. Where is the consultation? Where is the accountability? This type of dictatorial management is a disgrace.
Tue Feb 3 08:15:26 2009

Zoe Sindrey
I will definately not be going to Thurrock as much as i used to as i am not paying £3 on top of my petrol to get there - i will go elsewhere in future. They have made their money and now they are just being greedy - its a shame as the increase will affect jobs i am sure.
Mon Feb 2 16:01:46 2009

Jeff Goodsell
This charge is too much. There should not be a toll anyway! Collecting the toll causes queues and congestion. How much fuel is wasted by cars waiting in the constant jams? What size is the Dartford Crossing's Carbon Footprint? The crossing is part of the national infrastructure and should be paid for by national taxes!
Mon Feb 2 08:23:55 2009

Barbara T
I visit my son frequently in Upminster,and although he is worth every penny I have to pay the principle of the thing is disgusting, how can you justify having to put the toll up when originally it was just to pay for the build of the bridge, ok £1.00 while it was paying for the cost, but WHY has it increased and why are we subsidising people living in the area, what is the difference between their cars and ours. on top of this it has caused chaos at the tolls with people fuffing to get the right money, and if they haven't got the right money and its late at night and there isn't anyone patrolling the booths what happens then, do they have to pay £2.00 if they haven't got the change ? why is this not coming out of the tax payers money the same as everything else. I think if this still has to be subsidised it should have been left at £1.00 that everyone was used to paying, its just another £3.00 if you choose to go to Thurrock shopping on top of everything else, I have heard quite a few people say that ok they just won't bother, after all Blue Water is just down the road!.
Sat Jan 31 10:07:23 2009

Angela G
A 50% increase is appalling in this economic climate. A charge at all is a rip off considering it was supposed to be free once the Tunnel was paid for and then the bridge. If it is merely a case of maintenance costs, it should have been reduced by 50%, the amount of traffic using the crossing now, they are making well in excess of the amount required to maintain it. As for the excuse to ease congestion- as Jim Royal says MY A***!!
Wed Dec 31 13:13:26 2008

Ashley Halliday
Don't you think it's strange that they've stopped promoting the DartTag at the kiosks now they can get 50p more from you paying cash. (DartTag users only pay 1pound).Since the increase I now queue for an additional 30-40 minutes to get over the bridge every night - disgraceful.
Sun Dec 28 06:54:18 2008

Mark G
I cannot believe the idiocy of 'Le Crossing' and the Highways Agency in increasing the toll charge by 50p. I have been a regular user of the crossing in recent weeks both before and after the increase and at varying times of the day and night. When the charge was £1, I was rarely held up in either direction, now it is £1.50 I am held up on every use outside of the free time period, often for half an hour or more. Why? Because people generally only have either two £1 coins or a £2 coin meaning they will always head for the attended booths to get their change. Pity the poor people who bother to have the correct change to use the auto tolls; they save perhaps a few seconds once they have sat through the same queue as the rest of us and I doubt even the reduced toll cost for Dart-Tag user’s makes up for sitting in long traffic jams.Let alone the morality of increasing the charge in the first place, all that this has achieved is a considerable increase in journey times, in fuel consumption (resulting in even more cost), in emissions and of course in sheer frustration for the paying customer.I am not averse to paying a toll charge, I perfectly understand that the crossing has to be maintained, staff need to be paid and businesses need to make money; we would be far worse off without the crossing. However I wholly object to my toll charges going toward the no doubt high salaries of inept bosses (dare I say of a foreign company) who quite clearly have made this decision purely to increase commercial profit. I challenge all of them to take me on and argue this increase as being anything other than that...Okay so lot’s of problems and moaning, but “quelle est la solution?” (as I’m sure they say in the Le Crossing office). Well that couldn’t be simpler. Abandon the toll booths completely, adopt an ANPR camera system and allow customers to pay the toll charges over the phone or on-line as they would the London congestion charge. A pre-paid account (like Dart-Tag) that has costs benefits for paying in advance can still work, as can a local resident pricing policy and the free toll time period. Le Crossing, we have the technology and it is proven so get your thumbs out of your backsides and start using it – or is it that you really couldn’t care less?
Wed Dec 24 13:12:17 2008

Chris Hart
I live in South Darenth, only a few minutes from the tunnel, but because the boundary of Dartford council is drawn only a few yards away from my house I pay my council tax to Sevenoaks Council and was told that I do not qualify for a residents' tag. I have friends who live in Longfield some distance away from the tunnel who do qualify; how fair is that?? I agree that it should be distance from the tunnel or postcodes which are the qualifying factors.
Wed Dec 17 16:25:49 2008

Chris
Another stealth tax by the government. An increase of 50% during the credit crunch is yet another punch in the face from our government. Thank you Gordon Brown. I will be avoiding the tunnel as much as possible and will be staying on the already grid-locked A2.
Wed Dec 17 12:29:59 2008

Darron
My wife has to pass through the tunnel and over the bridge every day for work. We had to get the Dart Tag to save money or else it wouldn't have been worth it to travel.What changed that made the original idea of a free crossing become a 50% increase? Surely keeping the charge the same would have been better and less like a rip-off?
Wed Dec 17 09:55:41 2008

Helen Miller, Darenth.
Once again we the people have been conned by the government. The crossing was supposed to be free after it had paid for itself, No chance. So they try to tell us we can have a discount scheme, Well I can say that is a con as well, You have to register the car so I have to choose whether to always go to lakeside(the only reason for going through the tunnel) in my car or my husbands car or whether to pay for two tags? This is very irritating, and on reading the small print you will only be elligable for the discount if you keep £10.00 on the tag!!! so you need to pay an excess from the start. I think it is digraceful and I am mildly surprised that the owners of Lakeside haven't made more fuss, I will not be going there any more thats for sure as I will not purchase a tag.
Fri Dec 12 08:25:52 2008

nigel gauntlett
why should we have to pay for the privalege of being stuck in constant traffic jams every single day.without the charge traffic would flow freely as it does generally on most other stretches of the m25....again the poor motorist has to bear the brunt of another stealth tax.
Thu Dec 11 23:06:38 2008

keith
what a total rip off how th hell can they justify a 50% increase when it was paid for years ago , and it's been total caos at the tunnel ever since because no one has the right money to pay now ! what every one should do is turn up and pay with a £20 note and bring the whole place to a stand still until they see sense and get rid of this bottle neck completly
Mon Dec 8 12:03:54 2008

J Baldwin
This is another stelth tax. the bridge and tunnel have more than paid for themselves. surely the traffic would run more smoothly if one did not have to wait to pay a toll.
Thu Dec 4 16:46:39 2008

MR D.BUSHELL
SHOULD BE FREE TO REDUCE CONGESTION
Mon Dec 1 14:34:06 2008

Brian Morley
Has anyone actually given it any thought, that we don't need another crossing built anywhere else to relieve the traffic at Dartford Crossing. A lot of expense and disruption could be saved by using the money to buy out the Dartford Crossing operation, removing the "barrier" across one of Britain's busiest motorways and traffic will flow!!! As we all know, it only takes a slight accident to bring motorway traffic to a halt, causing long "tail-backs", so why is it necessary to keep the toll barrier going creating unecessary queues daily, now that it's more than paid for itself? I cannot see why it's necessary to build another crossing elsewhere and cause yet more "tail-backs" at that charging point too. I'm sure that the money saved through not building another crossing will sustain the Dartford operation for many years to come, as without the barriers, the running costs would be vastly reduced, and it may also have the "knock-on" effect of relieving the Blackwall Tunnel traffic for those drivers who need to cross the river daily and can't afford £15 per 5 day week.
Fri Nov 28 09:08:48 2008

Carrie King
I am appalled to find out that I do not live in the catchment area for the local Dartford tunnel fee discount scheme even though I live less than 5 minutes from the tunnel and use it regularly. Only those under Dartford and Thurrock councils can apply for a discount. I live in Crayford, a lot closer than many within the Dartford council area and end up losing out because I live in the borough of Bexley even though I have a Dartford address and postcode. Surely a ‘Dartford Resident’ should mean living within a certain distance of the tunnel, or those who have a DA postcode.
Wed Nov 26 13:12:05 2008

John
I have been using the dartford crossing every working day for the past ten years. The increase in cost to £1.50 has increased my home journey time by 30mins. I thought that the reason they would not scrap the toll is because it would increased the average time by 17mins. Need I say more
Wed Nov 26 12:09:51 2008

Kelly
I think this is absolutely disgusting! They began charging to recover costs of the bridge being built... Surely they have got their money twice over!
Tue Nov 18 13:45:00 2008

Chris Nowak
Anybody who suggests that stopping to pay for a toll does not cause tailbacks clearly doesn't speak or understand English. Slowing down to compress from 4 lanes into 2 lanes will always give rise to queues forming but that is not the same as being obliged to physically stop and feed toll booths with money.Lastly everyone should remember the broken promise. If we expect law and order in our society it is a sad day when the breakers of the rules are our lawmakers.What an example to set.
Tue Nov 18 12:06:24 2008

Tony Vanovitch
I used the Dartford Crossing this morning and there were queues for miles both ways because of the new charges, the councilor who said the increase was to relieve congestion needs his head examined.
Tue Nov 18 09:34:15 2008

Adam
all this about the tolls causing the congestion is not true.For example today they had no option but top stop traffic on the tunnel side due to a accident after the tunnel as people are not allowed to be stoped in the tunnel for more than a certain period of time, im am sure that if you became ill due to stopping the the tunnel you would soon be moaning, the same on the bridge today there was q's not cause of the tolls but because of a woman having to be cut out of her car after a accident on the bridge HOW is this anything to do with the tolls?
Mon Nov 17 22:13:15 2008

Robert
The only congestion it might affect are those travelling North to / from South and could go around the M25 either way. Does this explain why traffic at the Heathrow end of the M25 is so bad?
Mon Nov 17 12:26:42 2008

Tim Newman
This is travesty for people that have no choice but to use the crossing. I have just come through and all this will do will create permanent queues both ways. A government that abolishes it will get my vote!!
Mon Nov 17 12:11:22 2008

Gillian Buckland
The congestion at the tolls is caused by traffic having to stop, not the amount of traffic, which flows freely when it gets to the other end of the tunnels (or before the bridge). We were promised this toll would be removed when the crossing was paid for. Another broken promise and someone's making lots of money out of the motorists.
Sun Nov 16 22:10:43 2008

Edward Caint
Tolls should have finished a long time ago, when the bridge and tunnels had been paid for. To describe the tolls as a "congestion charge" is dishonest. The congestion is often *caused* by tollbooths. Also, if congestion were really the reason, tolls should be charged for the section of the M25 between the A3 and M4 junctions. Would the DfT dare to try that?
Fri Nov 14 23:04:06 2008

Martin Barker
A copy of a letter to paul clark in response to his radio kent interviewDear SirI am writeing to you in response to your comments on BBC Radio Kent regarding the increased toll charges at the Dartford crossing.I am a kent resident that uses the crossing on a very few occasions per year so the increased toll will not affect me in any way, However I feel there were either huge holes in the points you were making or you were not given the chance to give more detail to justify your comments, Therefore I would appreciate your comments on my points below.You stated "the toll is a congestion charge" this i can't understand, for it to be a congestion charge the users would need to have an alternative charge free route, I can not think of a reasonable route a user can take from say Canterbury to Southend that would not include the use of the dartford crossing. Therefore I put it to you that this is not a congestion charge but a tax.I can understand the london congestion charge as there is a very good public transport system but there is no alternative at Dartford.Moving on to the point of congestion you stated that if NO toll was in place the use of the crossing would increase by 17% to 20%. The crossing has approx 6000 users per hour so you are predicting an increase of 1200 users per hour.I ask where are these users going to be generated from, If they are already using a different route why would they change to using the crossing, as this would be further out of there way due to the fact there is no alternative route for crossing users for them to come from.If this increase is due to the general increase in traffic levels then the increase will take place even if there was a toll so that does not add up either, And I very much doubt 1200 people per hour are going to use the crossing just because they can.You also stated without the toll the congestion at the enterance of the crossing would cause tailbacks of upto an hour.I have two comments on this firstly recent research found that if there was a 2 mile tailback at the tolls and the gates were opened to give free passage the tailback would be gone in 40 mins.Secondly we already que for an hour to get through the toll booths and then have to pay for the privaledge.So if we had to que for an hour and not pay that has to be a better outcome for the user.many thanks for reading my comments and I awaite your response with anticipation.Mr Martin Barker
Fri Nov 14 19:01:17 2008

mick
good that free at night ,i just if few years ago they said it would be free to crossing ,and would be pay 4 buy now ,maint cost that much ?/////
Fri Nov 14 18:41:10 2008

ROY GOODALL
Relatives North of the river ,I live South . Travel 4 times per month to see elderly,sick relatives .Costs now up 50% plus the fuel increases . Bridge was paid for years ago .Rip off -why should I pay to subsidise Londoners' buses and tube trains ?
Fri Nov 14 17:32:34 2008

Pauline Lamb
I feel that both people who live in Kent and Essex should have concessions not just those in Dartford, people only use it for necessity it is not a fun thing to do as congestion is often bad, if people tried to avoid the toll it would put more traffic on the roads nearer to London the aim should be to speed up the flow of traffic not charge more thinking people will stay away.
Fri Nov 14 13:55:48 2008