2006 tolls for Forth ELECTRONIC tolling will be introduced on
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the Forth Bridge in 2006 in a bid to relieve congestion.
This was originally recommended last year in a consultant's report; now the Forth Estuary Transport Authority (FETA) has awarded the contract for the electronic tolling system to Transroute UK. The switch is expected to cost more than £.4m, including the building of new toll booths.
Transroute's tolling system will be compatible with other European systems, so it should theoretically be possible for a Scottish haulier with the electronic tag to pay other tolls, such as the SimplonTunnel between Italy and Switzerland.
The bridge authority wants to use the new system to make it cheaper to cross the bridge outside peak hours, but has not yet revealed the likely costs. A oneway HGV crossing currently costs £2, with discount vouchers of 50 tickets available for £65 (£1.30 per ticket).
A spokeswoman for FETA confirms that it will still be possible to pay the toll in cash.
For the bridge authority, electronic tolling is expected to cope better with the volume of traffic using the bridge.