Forth Bridge tolls rise to ease jams
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• Scottish hauliers face higher tolls on the Forth Bridge to pay for measures to ease congestion on the road to Edinburgh.
A working party set up by Scottish Secretary Michael Forsyth is considering the increase and is expected to report within the next month. Extra money raised would be used to reduce congestion caused by the peak-time bottleneck between the bridge and Edinburgh city bypass.
Measures which could speed up traffic include one-way or electronic tolling as well as improvements to the road itself. The proposals are being attacked by the Freight Transport Association, which says hauliers are angry that they are still being charged at all to cross the Forth. When the bridge was built in 1964 hauliers were promised tolls would stop when construction costs had been recouped "Why should hauliers pay for the extra infrastructure when they are already paying enough in vehicle excise duty and fuel taxes," says an FTA spokesman.
D See bridge tolls feature on page 32