‘Hardly a welcome to Wales’

Stand and deliver

YOU know you are in trouble when you are the butt of jokes on Gavin and Stacey.  One episode had Smithy 10p short at the toll on the Severn Crossing and nearly missed the birth of his baby.

Sadly, this is no laughing matter for millions of people who use the crossing every year. You can’t pay by credit card, debit card or pay online. You can’t travel off peak and there are no concessions for people who live locally. Despite this, the tolls continue to rise year on year even though the service is outdated.

A change is needed. The first and absolute minimum step must be to hold toll charges at present levels. Every year on January 1 the tolls go up in accordance with the formula in the Severn bridges Act 1992. Under the agreement with Severn River Crossings plc it is permitted to collect tolls from both bridges for a concessions period until the project’s target real revenue level is reached or the time limit is up. At that point the bridges revert to the Secretary of State’s control.

We are going through tough economic times, commuters are having their hours cut back, and experiencing pay freezes and high petrol prices. Yet the tolls still go up. Severn bridge tolls are the most expensive in the UK for cars – a now not insubstantial £5.50 to cross.

The next step is to examine the case for a reduction in the tolls for those who live locally, something that could be worked out by postcode areas. This has been introduced at Dartford Crossing, so why can we not do this in Wales?

Then there is the method of payment. Currently you can only pay to go over the bridges by cash, cheque or even euros. Those unfortunate enough to approach the bridge thinking they can pay by such new fangled methods as credit and debit cards are frustrated. Tales of people being escorted over the bridge, sent back again and told to do about a 20 mile round trip to Gordano services are not uncommon. Hardly a welcome to Wales for first time visitors, and not much fun for the long-suffering staff collecting the tolls that have to put up with frustrated motorists. Under the last government it was agreed that payment via card would be allowed. We now need to get on and implement this, without the card handling charge being passed on to the traveller. You wouldn’t expect Tesco’s to charge more for paying by card, so why should the bridges be any different?

But this will not alleviate the impact on business in South Wales of the tolls. The Severn Crossing Tolls, which are felt by many to be a tax on entering Wales, are the highest in the UK for all but the largest vehicles. Light goods Vehicles pay £10.90 compared to £2 for the Dartford Crossing, and £4.90 on the Humber. Heavy Good vehicles must pay £16.30 – on the Humber the charge is £10.90 or £14.60, depending on size. The Dartford crossing charges just £3.70 per all HGVs. In both cases the Forth and Skye bridges are free.

A example in my constituency of the burden of the tolls is illustrated by Owens Road Services, a longstanding Welsh company with a base in Newport and which represents 1% of the total HGV traffic on the crossing. Owens’s pay £16,000 a month by standing order account and the annual toll increases come straight off the company’s bottom line. The crossing is a charge on Welsh logistics industry that is not paid by competitors in England. And with the industry already struggling with over 3,100 HGV drivers claiming job seekers allowance in Wales, it is a charge we can ill afford.

The previous Government froze the tolls on the Humber crossing after a study into the impact on residents and businesses. So the next step has to be a study on the Severn. Hopefully the Department for Transport and the Welsh Government can initiate just such a study.

31,437 Heavy Goods vehicles using the bridge each week, or 4,491 per day. There are clear patterns of movement on the crossing with most vehicles travelling between peak times. It is clear that a more flexible pricing structure – an off peak travel for business – would offer incentives to travel at certain times of the day or night which could reduce congestion, and save on emissions and save companies money.  This is another area that deserves urgent consideration.

Finally, we need to look to the future. According to the Highways Agency study in 2008 the current Severn Crossings are being maintained at a constant level, requiring annual maintenance expenditure of around 20% of the annual income generated from tolls. In a few years when the operation of the bridges is expected to be turned over to the state, the Highways Agency will receive the revenue without the burden of debt. So now is the right time to plan for a smooth transition, with tolls being reduced to a maintenance only charge. Wales cannot afford and does not deserve this peculiar and punitive tax.