« Previous | Contents | Next »
Listen
TOLLED BRIDGES REVIEW: PHASE ONE REPORT - 29 OCTOBER 2004:
Executive Summary
Background
1. The Tolled Bridges Review is a commitment in the Partnership Agreement - A Partnership for a Better Scotland. This report is the result of Phase One of the Review and has focused on the tolling regimes on the Forth, Tay, Erskine and Skye road bridges. Phase Two will commence in November 2004, and be completed in the summer of 2005. It will consider the broader operational and management issues associated with each toll bridge in Scotland.
2. The Review was undertaken by Scottish Executive officials, in consultation with bridge experts and local authority officials associated with each tolled bridge, as well as a number of interest groups. There was no clear consensus amongst consultees' responses on the future of tolled bridges: some respondents felt all tolls should be removed; some felt tolls should only be levied until construction costs had been repaid; others felt the tolls should be continued or increased, to pay for maintenance, and address congestion and growing traffic trends.
Current Policy
3. Tolls on each bridge were originally set up to pay for the construction and/or ongoing maintenance and operations of each bridge. However, each tolled bridge is unique in terms of its usage, traffic levels, tolling regimes, environmental issues, management arrangements and maintenance requirements. A common approach to tolling (i.e. setting all tolls at the same level or blanket removal) is therefore not appropriate.
4. The Review has been undertaken during a time of public concern about the implications of traffic growth and congestion on the economy and the environment. The Review has thus focused on the strategic implications of various tolling regimes in terms of finance, environment, economic issues, congestion and the impact on connecting road and transport networks.
5. Forth, Tay and Erskine Bridges all have significant commitments that must be funded to meet current and future maintenance and upgrading work. The maintenance requirements for Skye Bridge are considerably lower. Known future costs run to well in excess of 100m for some individual bridges and any consideration of changes in tolling should make provision to ensure that future funding (to meet essential maintenance and capital expenditure) is secure. Any significant reduction in tolling income would therefore increase the demand for direct Scottish Executive funding support.
6. The Transport Model for Scotland (TMfS) was used to model a range of tolling scenarios for Forth, Tay and Erskine Bridges. The scenarios ranged from removing tolls, through to significantly increasing them. Modelling results - covering traffic flows, revenue, congestion, and emissions - are best read as indicative and relative rather than using the absolute values to predict what could actually happen in practice. Given the PA commitment to Skye Bridge, the Review did not consider variations in toll levels beyond removing them.
7. Changes to tolls can affect travel patterns e.g. by encouraging new, additional or longer journeys; and this in turn affects both congestion levels and emissions of greenhouse gases and air pollutants that affect local air quality. Motorists making journeys on congested roads cause delays both to themselves and to other vehicles on that road and the surrounding network. The costs are borne, both by the individual motorist, and by other road users, in the form of increased journey times, safety problems, and pollution. Longer journeys with unpredictable delays add to the cost of industry and commerce. As such, congestion is a significant cost to the economy.
8. Emissions from road vehicles are the largest single cause of local air pollution in Scotland. The Executive has set air quality objectives to be met throughout Scotland by dates ranging from 2003 - 2010. Road transport also accounts for about 11% of Scottish carbon dioxide emissions. The Executive has several commitments to tackling climate change, including working with the UK Government to meet the UK Kyoto target of reducing 1990 levels of greenhouse gas emissions by 12.5% by 2008-2012.
9. Changes to tolls that increase traffic levels, increase congestion or divert traffic into areas of poor air quality could have a detrimental effect on air quality and economic growth objectives.
Forth Road Bridge
10. Opened in 1964, the Forth forms an important link for commuters between Fife and Edinburgh as well as providing a major connection linking routes on the road network in Scotland. Since April 2002 its management, maintenance and operation has been the responsibility of the Forth Estuary Transport Authority (FETA), a Joint Board comprising Fife, City of Edinburgh, West Lothian and Perth & Kinross Councils.
Financial performance
11. The initial tolling period was set until 28 May 1995 and tolls collected were used to service and repay loans and to pay for the operation, maintenance and repair of the bridge. Within this initial tolling period, loans associated with the bridge's construction were repaid, and tolling extensions have since been granted to finance major structural upgrading and ongoing maintenance and operation costs. Tolling income is also now used to support schemes to reduce traffic congestion on the bridge.
12. The bridge requires continuous maintenance and the current rolling programme of bridge maintenance up to 2018 is estimated to cost 112m. These costs should be met through FETA's revenue reserves together with future tolls collected and borrowing.
Environmental issues
13. There are no specific air quality problems immediately around the Forth Road Bridge. However the bridge is a major generator of traffic into Edinburgh with 12% of morning trips across the bridge destined for Edinburgh's city centre. The City of Edinburgh Council has declared an Air Quality Management Area (AQMA) covering the city centre. Any tolling regime on the Forth Road Bridge which could help reduce congestion in Edinburgh could potentially have a positive impact on the city centre's air quality.
Potential effects of changes in the tolling regime
14. The Forth Road Bridge has the greatest volume of traffic of all four bridges with a daily average of 65,800 vehicles. It operates at its maximum capacity at peak times and consequently suffers severe congestion problems over lengthy peak periods.
15 .Decreasing or removing tolls on the Forth has the potential to attract additional traffic, principally from Kincardine Bridge. Additional traffic would increase congestion, extend the length of queues and the duration of the peak periods. Any decrease in tolling income would severely limit FETA's ability to support cross-Forth transport improvements and increase dependency on external financing, including from the Scottish Executive, for bridge maintenance.
16. Significant increases in tolls on the other hand could possibly divert traffic to the Kincardine Bridge, which already experiences severe congestion at peak periods, although the new Upper Forth Crossing may ameliorate this in due course. Results of modelling higher toll increases on the Forth suggest that traffic flows could be sensitive to differential tolls (e.g. higher tolls during peak periods) being used for demand management purposes at peak times as long as viable alternatives (bus, rail and car sharing) were provided to encourage people to switch to more sustainable modes of transport. Toll revenues would increase if tolls were increased although there is not a significant difference between a slight increase in tolls and a major increase due to the drop in traffic levels from the latter scenario.
Tay Road Bridge
17. The Tay Road Bridge spans the estuary of the River Tay between Dundee City and Newport-on-Tay in Fife and its northern exit leads directly into the centre of Dundee. Opened in 1966, the administration, management, maintenance and operation of the Tay Road Bridge is the responsibility of the Tay Road Bridge Joint Board, comprising six councillors from Dundee City Council, five from Fife Council and one from Angus Council. Unlike FETA, the Tay Road Bridge Joint Board has no remit for improving local transport or contributing to other schemes to reduce congestion across the bridge although enabling powers for doing so have been made in the Transport (Scotland) Act 2001.
Financial performance
18. Two-way tolling was replaced with southbound only tolling in December 1991 and tolls, other than for buses, have not increased since then. Around 50% of tolling income is absorbed by finance charges and a significant proportion of the remainder is spent on bridge operations. Legislation requires debts associated with the bridge - approximately 16.6m - to be repaid by 2016/17. However, the current tolls alone are insufficient to repay the loans on time. The capital maintenance programme to 2024 is 28.6m, and enhancements to the bridge are funded through the Board's general reserve or capital grants from the Executive. Short term maintenance costs to be funded from tolling income.
Environmental issues
19. The Tay Road Bridge is located close to areas of poor air quality, with Dundee considering declaring the city centre an AQMA. These air quality problems are associated with transport air related pollutants. The Tay toll regime could be used to decrease transport over the bridge into the city centre hotspots if the tolls were increased and analysis is currently underway of tolling traffic northbound instead of southbound to help ease the congestion in the city.
Potential effects of changes in the tolling regime
20. The Tay Road Bridge currently handles some 23,800 vehicles per day and suffers congestion during short peak periods due in part to the Northern Toll Plaza's close proximity to Dundee city centre.
21. Modelling shows that removing or decreasing tolls on the Tay has the potential to attract additional traffic principally from Friarton Bridge near Perth and potentially exacerbate the problem Dundee experiences with short spells of congestion at morning and evening peaks. Reducing the toll income would also increase the dependence on Scottish Executive funding and may limit the ability to pay for operations. Removing tolls altogether would result in a loss of income of 3.4m per annum and 15m of loans to be serviced and/or repaid from other sources.
22. Increasing the tolls on Tay diverts traffic to the Friarton bridge. Results of modelling higher toll increases suggests that traffic flows could be sensitive to differential tolls being used for demand management purposes at peak times as long as viable alternatives were provided. Increasing the tolls may offer the possibility to employ surpluses for local transport improvements.
Erskine Bridge
23. The Erskine Bridge, crossing the River Clyde some nine miles west of the centre of Glasgow, was opened in 1971. It is the only tolled bridge run directly by the Executive. The flat rate toll for all vehicles across the Erskine Bridge does not reflect the relative cost of the damage to the fabric of the bridge caused by heavy vehicles.
Financial performance
24. The 1968 Erskine Bridge Tolls Act set an initial 20 year period for the collection of tolls extendable by one or more periods of five years. Schedule 2 to the Act requires that total tolls collected should not exceed the total sum of the capital costs (with interest) of the bridge, the ongoing costs of operating, maintaining and renewing the bridge both during the tolling period and afterwards, and interest on annual shortfalls. Tolling policy at Erskine has been to recover a reasonable contribution to these costs while taking account of the economy of the area, the levels of traffic flow and the close proximity of alternative non-tolled routes, notably the Clyde Tunnel.
25. The accounts for the year to 31 March 2003 shows that tolls collected since the bridge opened have fallen some 260m short of the cap provided by Schedule 2. An analysis of tolls collected and maintenance costs incurred since the bridge opened in 1971 shows surpluses have been registered in most years since 1985. Maintenance expenditure is expected to increase as the bridge gets older and the current estimate of future maintenance expenditure to 2018 is 30.7m. Current projections of income less operational and maintenance costs over the next fifteen years is still expected to be an overall surplus. However expenditure relative to the bridge has to be spread over the lifetime of the bridge and contribute to its future renewal. Income from the tolls is credited to the Executive's transport budget and covers the bridge's maintenance and operational costs.
Environmental issues
26. Any additional traffic flow on the bridge (e.g. generated by reducing or removing tolls) would mean an increase in emissions on the bridge and the southern M8 approach. Conversely if tolls were to increase to the extent that traffic was diverted to alternative routes through Glasgow City, then emissions would increase in the city centre. Whilst there are no specific air quality problems around the bridge itself, Glasgow City Council has declared an AQMA in the city centre.
Potential effects of changes in the tolling regime
27. The bridge currently handles some 26,200 vehicles per day. Traffic flows are more sensitive to changes to toll levels than the other bridges because of close alternative routes - the Clyde Tunnel, the Kingston Bridge, and Great Western Road/Clydeside Express.
28. Modelling carried out so far suggests that removing or decreasing tolls at Erskine could attract traffic from these routes and ease congestion on them. Erskine has some capacity to cope with this increase although depending on the proportion of heavy goods vehicles (HGVs) diverting, would require strengthening to be undertaken at an estimated cost of 20m. Toll revenues would obviously cease, which would have serious implications for the Executive in terms of funding future bridge maintenance.
29. Increasing the tolls would have the opposite effect, with traffic diverting to alternative routes. Modelling of a slight increase in the tolls for HGVs and a slight decrease for non HGVs showed a marginal increase in traffic and similar revenue to the current regime. Further work in Phase Two will consider the more detailed impact of changes to the toll regime, and particularly the consideration of differential toll by vehicle type.
SKYE BRIDGE
30. The Skye Bridge was opened in 1995 between Kyleakin and Kyle of Lochalsh. Following an initiative by the former Highland Regional Council, the then Scottish Office signed a contract in 1991 for the design, build, financing and operation of the Skye Bridge with the developer Skye Bridge Tolls Ltd (now Skye Bridge Ltd).
Financial performance
31. The total cost of the Skye Bridge project was 39m (1991 prices) of which some 15m was publicly funded. The Concession Agreement allows the concessionaire to charge and collect tolls for 27 years or until total tolls collected cover the "agreed costs" as set out in the Agreement (a formula based on achieving 23.64m at 1991 prices). The current estimate of when this sum would be reached is 2012.
32. The Scottish Executive also makes annual payments to Skye Bridge Ltd to compensate for shortfalls in income arising from previous Ministerial decisions to increase discounts for frequent users (1997), freeze tolls at 1999 cash levels and the introduction of VAT on tolls from 2003. This is currently 1.7m p.a. Annual maintenance costs (met by the Bridge Concessionaire) are low in comparison to other bridges and not detailed here as they are commercially confidential.
33. The financial implications of ending the tolling regime are subject to confidential commercial negotiations and therefore not summarised in this report.
Environmental issues
34. There are no air quality problems associated with Skye Bridge.
Potential effects of changes in the tolling regime
35. Some 2,100 vehicles currently cross the bridge each day. Research shows there would be a limited increase in traffic across the bridge with the tolls removed, and no significant effect on the Mallaig - Armadale ferry route, though there are anecdotal local concerns that the removal of tolls could divert coach and other tourist traffic away from the ferry to the bridge. We have not considered the impact of increasing the tolls on the bridge, given the Partnership Agreement commitment to ending the tolling regime.
36. There are no congestion issues associated with Skye Bridge.
PHASE TWO
37. The tolled bridges are major transport assets and are vitally important to the people, local businesses and communities they serve as well as providing strategic links for users of the road network. The White Paper 'Scotland's Transport Future' made a commitment to examine "the broader issues, relating to the management, operation and maintenance of the tolled bridges. This will include an assessment of how tolled bridges relate to the new regional and national transport arrangements."
38. Ensuring that the bridges operate and are managed in a way that provides optimum benefits at a national and local level will be the main focus for Phase Two. In addition, we will also take the opportunity, where appropriate, to consider issues emerging from Phase One which contribute to the achievement of this objective.
Phase Two terms of reference will include:
39. Management structures and objectives:
- Relationship of bridges to new Regional Transport Partnerships and national Transport Agency
- Consideration of wider remit for management body for each tolled bridge where appropriate
40. Charging principles and objectives:
- Consistency of arrangements for discount schemes (including for high occupancy vehicles), Blue Badge holders and other exemptions (including for public transport)
- Differentiating between heavy vehicles and other vehicles on the basis of damage done to bridge surfaces
41. Procedures for adjusting Tolls or Charges:
- Review of legal procedures
42. Maintenance provision:
- Review of funding arrangements
43. Technological developments:
- Interoperability of infrastructure charging (possible future local and national road pricing)
44. Bridge Specific Issues:
- Erskine - impact on congestion elsewhere in Glasgow, future funding and operation of the bridge, upgrading of tolling administration
- Tay - how tolling arrangements could help tackle congestion and air quality objectives, including relocating toll booths to southern end of bridge
- Forth - how to achieve shift from single occupancy vehicles to multiple occupancy vehicles through differential tolling regimes.
« Previous | Contents | Next »