Severn Bridge - Tolls

Tolls

Shortly after the opening of the Severn Bridge, Anglo-Welsh poet Harri Webb wrote an Ode on the Severn Bridge:

Two lands at last connected

Across the waters wide,

And all the tolls collected

On the English side.

The toll is indeed collected on the English side, and only on vehicles travelling westwards from England to Wales, leading some people to describe it as a "tax on entering Wales", both in jest and also as a more serious anti-toll campaign. Originally, tolls were charged in both directions, but the arrangements were changed in the early 1990s to eliminate the need for a set of toll booths for each direction of travel and the potential for traffic waiting to pay the toll backing up onto the bridge itself.

In 1966, the toll for using the new motorway crossing was set at 2s 6d (post-decimalisation equivalent £0.125) for all vehicles apart from solo motorcycles which enjoyed a reduced toll of 1s (£0.05). For a small car the bridge toll represented a saving of 7s (£0.35) on the price, at that time 9s 6d (£0.475), of using the ferry crossing. By 1989, the toll had reached £2 each way for goods vehicle having an unladen weight exceeding 1.525 tonnes and passenger vehicles adapted to carry more than 16 passengers and £1 each way for other vehicles. Currency depreciation has been a feature of UK monetary policy in the intervening decades, and the RPI is a widely applied surrogate for the resulting impact of general price inflation: if the Severn toll had increased in line with general inflation since September 1966, when Queen Elizabeth II opened the bridge, the original value of £0.125 would have reached £2.02 each way in January 2010.

As of January 2013, the toll is £6.20 for a car, increasing to £18.60 for a heavy goods vehicle. Motorcycles and disabled badge holders are exempt from the tolls, although both must stop at the toll booths to have their eligibility confirmed, and also to allow the barrier to be raised. The tolls for the Second Severn Crossing are the same, although in that case, the tolls are collected on the Welsh side (although still for traffic entering Wales, not leaving it), sufficiently far from the bridge that even severe queueing doesn't reach it. A system known as the Severn TAG made by Amtech is also in operation, which allows drivers to pay electronically without having to stop at the toll booths. TAGs are available either on a per-trip or a seasonal basis, although only the latter attracts a discount.

Credit/debit cards were not originally accepted on either bridge, but drivers who did not have the means to pay were able to get a bill from the toll operator and pay by post later. Card payment was made available in time for the 2010 Ryder Cup, however, users would be required to enter their PIN and cash was still the recommended payment method to avoid delays.

The cycle path and footpath, which run along either side of the roadway, may be used free of charge. Only the original bridge has such a public access.