Road toll charges - watch out!

You can choose to avoid them but you often treble your travel time, and by the time you stop at dozens of lights then use masses of fuel to get going again you are not that far behind using the motorways. We recently travelled from Royal North Shore hosiptal to Blaxland in the blue mountains in an hour using the m2, m7 then the m4.
Cheers Pete

Pete

When going north of Sydney from Canberra we bypass them all. Liverpool to Hornsby mainly on the Cumberland Highway (miss named) has only once been slower than the tollway big loop up to Penrith and then back into town and then up to Hornsby.

Certainly you use more fuel but I would hazard a guess that its still cheaper than the tolls. I may be wrong but it could be more than $15 all up in tolls. Please feel free to correct me. Thats a lot of red lights etc for a car without trailer or big load on the roof and minimised clothes and stores inside.

I think I prefer the non toll ways. A lot of the old back roads are still there also. If the Cumbetland is busy we head a smidgin further west through the areas around Toongabbie and Seven Hills. Or further east along Villawood Road and up through Silverwater. Even Strathfield and Concord can be quicker. But we never go through in the middle of the day.

In convoy (only once later this year for a family only trip) thats another matter also. Maybe tollways to keep together. But you could always meet the other side.

Gee I rattle on hey. But I know what you mean. The difference is that time means nothing to us now.

Catchya

You mean "The State Of Extortion" not the Premier State!
I live in it also.
Regards, Bruce.

Not The Premier State, I said The PremierS state. With an S. NSW is a beautiful part of Aus, and I have lived there a couple of times, BUT never again until you people can elect some decent, honest pollys, who know something about running a govt and a state !! Vic is currently heading in your direction, but we have a chance to get real later in the year and get back on a decent track.

Ian

"until you people can elect some decent, honest pollys, who know something about running a govt and a state !! "

And where do we find them ?????????

sorry Fred, I don't know !!!

Ian

Will look up my acct as have been through there using my Etoll

I came through with van on on Feb 4th and only paid car price of $2.95.

Van is 2.950 high according to specs including aircon

Heather,

I thought the Roam eTag also applied to any toll road in Australia - at least thats what their website says.

If that's the case, can you explain what is the advantage of the RTA account?

Regards

LES

Its not just the number of axles, its the height which gets you. My mates hilux 4x4 with racks and ladders is over the 3 meter restriction and get charged for a truck alll the time. The sensors don't count the axles, just record if the beam is broken at the 3m height. You can tow a tandem car trailer behind a commodore and only pay the car rate. Its all about the height, and therefore the presumed weight.


Steve

Hi Steve,
I thought it might be a combination of both or one or the other.

Dave..

Dave,

I think we do understand that we are now being treated in the Class 4 - Heavy Vehicle category, and that we have "got away" with it in the past. It would have been more helpful if you could have provided a factual response, rather than the "I think" one that you provided.

Perhaps my original post didn't convey the right messages, which are:

Why should caravan owners have to pay the same as truck operators? - I haven't done any research on this yet, but I imagine truck axle loadings are higher than the axle loadings with our tow vehicle and caravan. Perhaps one of the truckies on the forum could provide some insight into the axle loading scenario? I'm assuming that axle loadings are probably the major concern for road operators/maintainers in terms of assessing the damage caused by each vehicle and the related costs?

Why should retired people, who are living of their pension which is a limited resource in most cases, have to pay the same rates as other people, particularly when Class 4 rates are being imposed?

I can imagine the net effect of this pricing structure is that people who need to move across Sydney (my example, but it'll apply elsewhere as well) will stay off the tollroads (to avoid the $10 (Harbour Tunnel) to $20 (M2/M7) fee).

So the already congested non-toll roads will be carrying more towed caravans than they do at the moment - this doesn't seem like a very good prospect for those who are towing their vans, or the other road users, on these non-toll roads.

There must be a lot of caravan towers (retired or not) who have the same problem - what do you all think about it? Has anyone questioned this before? What was the response?

I realise that we're dealing with government bureaucracy here, but why should we just lie down and accept these things?

AND does anyone know what the "missing" Class 3 toll is for?

LES

It says pensioner concession available at the bottom of the page.


Toll product selector

The questionnaire below is designed to assist with choosing the right RTA product for our needs. Please click the response that suits your preference (y/n). Depending on your response supplementary questions will be displayed to narrow down the choice and identify the right product. Please read the questions carefully before responding.

Questions Yes? No?
Do you only have a motorcycle?

Would you prefer to make payments to your account in preference to the RTA taking payments automatically?

Your answers suggest the best product for you is the Easy Toll Manual Account

Easy Toll Manual Account
For people wanting financial control (no tag deposit and manual top up).
Designed for frequent toll road users (12 or more trips per month).
Payment by direct debit and credit card or Cash via RTA Motor Registry.
Valid on all Australian toll roads.

"Pensioner concessions are available on Easy Toll accounts." Please open your account at a RTA Motor Registry.

Try ringing them and sort it out.

Les, you refer to the roads M2 M7 plus Cross City Tunnel, Lane Cove Tunnel as a government bureaucracy, but in fact these are privately owned roads which unfortunately gives them the right to charge what they want. At least if it was gov't owned, we wouldn't see 6 monthly rises for no apparent reason, and no maintenance being performed. The only good thing is I bought shares in the Hills Motorway Group years ago. What a great investment, but it still p***es me off having to pay to sit in a "car park" everyday.

Steve

Dave,

Thanks for the info - unfortunately whilst I am retired and living off my super, I do not fall into the RTA prescribed definitions of a pensioner!

Donks,
My mistake - I had assumed that as there are different eTags at work here, including the RTA that it was all driven by Government! And given the current state of NSW government I am not as convinced as you that Government ownership would not also be driving significant increses. But that's bye the bye!

LES

Thanks for that Graham!

The difference between the deposit/topup arrangements for the different eTags doesn't bother me particularly.

The real issue is why I should be charged Class 4 rates when towing a van.

Gotta agree, the amount of wear and tear on clutchs and the drivetrain when towing and stopping for lights every k or so is considerable.
Cheers Pete

Yes you will be charged C4 rates even if you use that tag to a C1 C2 or C3 vehicle...
Why?
because that tag number is linked to the C4 vehicles registration and vehicle class...

It isn't that hard... if you want to use one tag for ALL your vehicles, even if they be different classes... then give them all your vehicle registration numbers.
otherwise, have one tag in each vehicle, that tag will be linked to that vehicles registration number. No more problems...