William Graham (Conservative AM for South Wales East) responding to the news of the increase of tolls for the Severn Bridges.
“The rise in the tolls is set by an annual inflation-linked formula, until a total of £1.8bn has been collected (£995m at 1989 prices) to pay for the construction of the second bridge; then the Severn Crossings will revert to public ownership”.
From January 2011 it will cost cars £5.70 (an increase of 20p), vans £11.50 (an increase of 60p) and HGVs £17.20 (an increase of 80p).
“Earlier this year concerns were expressed that the scheduled date for the collection of the £1.8bn had been revised from 2016 until 2018, because of a decline in traffic”.
“We require a statement on the future costs for crossing these bridges so that businesses can determine their on-going costs for transport. This information is vital to allow us to attract further economic investment into our region; which may be deterred if additional or unknown transport costs are to be levied against companies for which the Severn Bridges are a necessity”.
