Severn crossings: cheaper tolls but a free-flow charging rethink?

As the Severn crossings concession runs through its final 12 months, the UK Government’s plans for the bridges provide an interesting insight into its current thinking on tolled roads, following more than two years’ experience of electronic tolling at Dartford.

Rhodri Clark

20 January 2017

The DfT seems to accept that Severn toll booths will remain, whether or not free-flow tolling is introduced

The tolling regime on the M4 Severn crossings has been set in aspic since the Severn Bridges Act 1992 enabled the Government to award a concession to Severn River Crossing PLC. The company’s remit was to build a second bridge and maintain both bridges for the concession period. The Act authorised Severn River Crossing (SRC) to increase tolls annually in line with inflation but did not permit any variation in the times when tolls apply or the proportional relationship between prices for...