Madam, - For many years the Irish Road Haulage Association have objected to road tolls. Our objections are based on two simple facts. Road tolls are not good value for money and in Ireland they have become arbitrary because of the geographical location of the toll booths.
When the Westlink M50 opened it reduced the journey time from Dublin airport to Newlands Cross by up to 80 per cent. Now that journey time has been increased to the extent that it could take as long to get from Dublin Airport to the edge of the Pale as it would to complete the journey to Limerick, Cork or Galway, plus you now have to queue up to pay a toll.
The toll payment subscribes to two funds. The first one is to the exchequer and the second could be described as a levy or commission to the toll operator. No value accrues to the motorist, no reduced journey time and no improvement in m.p.g. The opening of the new section of the motorway on the M4 may reduce the journey time by 20 minutes but it is not clear yet if this benefit will be lost at either end because the volume is just moved further faster. Either way it is not good value to have to pay €6 (in the case of a truck) every time 20 minutes is gained.
The second thing to note about tolls is that they are arbitrary in nature because of their location. So for example, a motorist travelling from Sligo to Waterford could make the journey without encountering any tolls but the same motorist going from Galway to Belfast would encounter three tolls. Of course Martin Cullen's response would be that he or she could divert from the toll road and save the tolls. It could also be said that if he or she cycled they could save on the fuel, not a reasonable argument.
The Government's new Transport 21 plan is impressive but the Government cannot continue to bleed the motorists and hauliers of this country dry. Hauliers have no objection to paying for the use of the roads. We are paying for them already in our road tax. Any adjustment needed should be made through the road tax system.
Road tolling is a stealth tax. It is a lucrative business for the toll operators and because of its monopolistic features it is unlikely that it will ever become price sensitive. In the past the IRHA proposed that if the infrastructure of the toll road belonged to the Government and three or four operators had a franchise to operate it we would see competition, similar to what happened with the arrival of competition in the mobile phone market.
The IRHA will not stand by and watch this situation get worse. In the New Year we will be starting a campaign; we expect this will be an issue in the next general election. We will be calling on all motorists to unite with us and support us in our campaign against road tolling. - Yours, etc,
VINCENT CAULFIELD
Irish Road Haulage
Association,
Blanchardstown,
Dublin 15.