State Government rules out minimum usage fee for free-flow tolling

 
Queensland motorists will save an extra 10 minutes in travel time across the Gateway and Logan motorways once free flow tolling is rolled out in July.

Treasurer and Acting Main Roads Minister Andrew Fraser said that the saving was in addition to travel-time savings of up to 15 minutes that are expected as a result of the State Government's Gateway Upgrade Project.

Announcing the pricing structure for free-flow tolling, Mr Fraser said that the government had ruled out a minimum usage fee for E toll customers and would continue to provide free transponders as part of the introduction of free-flow tolling on the Queensland Motorways network.

Mr Fraser said the ongoing provision of free electronic transponders would make it easier for motorists to enjoy the benefits of free-flow tolling when it was introduced on 1 July 2009.

"The government has approved Queensland Motorways’ tolling model to cater for free-flow tolling and ruled out minimum usage charges on E toll for good," Mr Fraser said.

“Under free-flow tolling, cash lanes and toll booths on the Gateway and Logan motorways will be removed, providing an open motorway where tolls are automatically calculated as motorists drive under tolling gantries.

“This will dramatically increase capacity across the Queensland Motorways network, improving traffic flow and resulting in time savings.

“By providing free transponders and ruling out a minimum usage charge, we are also making it easy for motorists to take advantage of the benefits of free-flow tolling.

"An added bonus is that motorists can use their free E toll transponders on all toll roads across Australia, including the new toll roads planned for Brisbane such as the Clem7 tunnel, Hale Street Link and Airport Link.”

The introduction of free-flow tolling has required a significant investment in sophisticated technology and systems as well as safety improvement works, to achieve its congestion-busting and traffic-flow benefits two years ahead of schedule.

"To meet costs, there will be a one-off increase in tolls of 25 cents for cars and 50 cents for heavy vehicles, but this increase won’t apply until July 2011 – when motorists will be enjoying the full benefits of the $1.88 billion Gateway Upgrade Project,” Mr Fraser said.

“We anticipate that the toll for cars on the Gateway Bridge, allowing for a realistic average annual CPI increase of between 3.5 and 4 per cent, to be between $3.55 and $3.60 in July 2011.

“However, tolls on the Gateway and Logan motorways, based on current data, will still be the cheapest in Australia on a per-kilometre basis.”

The State Government previously approved free-flow tolling to be introduced on both the Gateway and Logan motorways, and has brought forward its delivery from 2011 to 2009.

“Following consideration of various pricing options the government decided to apply this one-off toll increase instead of ongoing minimum usage charges or deposits and rentals for transponders,” Mr Fraser said.

“Also, the government does not expect Queensland Motorways to generate a return or pay dividends – tolls are set at levels to meet costs only."

Queensland Motorways CEO Phil Mumford said following government approval of its proposed products and pricing, details of the full range of product offerings were now available on the company’s website.

“The system has been designed to meet the needs of all users – from the motorist who may use our toll roads once a year, to those who use our network daily,” Mr Mumford said.

“E toll continues to be the best option and we encourage motorists to get a transponder today to ensure they are ready for free-flow tolling and enjoy the immediate benefits.”

The suite of user-friendly options will include video tolling products as an alternative to a transponder. Motorists who choose video tolling will pay an extra 40-cent video-matching fee at each tolling point, in addition to the relevant toll, to cover the costs of video processing.

"Customers who are already enjoying the benefits of E toll won't have to do a thing when free-flow tolling starts,” Mr Mumford said.

For more information on Queensland Motorways’ suite of products, go to www.qldmotorways.com.au.

Media contact: Treasurer’s Office: 0458 357 539