This item was published during the term of a previous administration that ended in April 2007
Listen
Future management of toll bridges
15/04/2005
A public consultation into the future management of
Scotland's tolled bridges was launched today.
It will seek views on common principles that could be
applied to bridge tolls in the future and give people the
opportunity to comment on future management in relation to
the new Regional Transport Partnerships and the new
transport agency.
The Transport White Paper gave a commitment to examine
the issue of bridge tolls by setting up a two-phase
review.
Phase One of this review, published in December last
year, focused on existing tolls and saw the removal of
tolls on the Skye Bridge.
Phase Two will look at the future issues affecting the
Erskine, Forth, and Tay bridges.
Transport Minister Nicol Stephen said:
"Our bridges are a vital part of the transport network
in Scotland. We want to encourage debate on issues of
bridge management that will allow us to tackle the causes
of pollution and congestion where this is a problem.
"The second phase will look at ideas such as single
occupancy vehicles and priority lanes, exemptions to tolls
and discount schemes. This will give us a better
understanding of the options we need to consider before
taking any future decisions on tolls, or the operation and
management of these bridges."
Phase One of the Tolled Bridges Review looked at how
tolls impact on our environmental and economic objectives
of reducing pollution and congestion.
This showed that the removal of tolls on the Skye Bridge
would have no adverse traffic or environmental effects
and allowed Ministers to take an early decision to remove
the tolling regime on Skye bridge.
The traffic context and potential implications of
changing or removing tolls on the other bridges were
regarded as more complicated and requiring further
consideration before any decisions are made.
Phase Two of the Review will consider the wider issues
of bridge management and includes consultation on the
different models available for managing the bridges, as
well as objectives that can be achieved through tolling.
Views will also be sought on other issues such as
exemptions and discounts.
The Erskine Bridge plays a key role in the economic
regeneration of West Dunbartonshire.
In the East, Forth and Tay bridges are vital links from
Fife to the cities of Dundee and Edinburgh and beyond and
they have significant local congestion issues needing to be
addressed.
Phase Two ill consider specific congestion issues as
well as how Erskine Bridge might help in meeting the
challenge of reducing congestion at the Clyde Tunnel and
the Kingston Bridge in the centre of Glasgow.