@%$#@%#@ M7

[George130]

The M7 toll system sux!
I can't use the visitor system as I don't use or have credit cards. This means I have to register as an occasional user to allow them do direct debit my account. Been told it will end up with $10 in fees as well as the toll! Why can't they set up a better system for out of town people?

[101RRS]

You better believe it and if you are going north you will find yourself on the M2 (the M7 magically becomes the M2 near Pennant Hills) and you have to pay that toll as well. When coming south - how in the hell do you get onto the M7 without going on the M2 - there are no signs on Pennant Hills Road until you reach the M2.

Wots more because the M7 is about 16km longer than the old Cumberland Highway in none peak hours the old road is actually quicker by about 5 minutes from Hornsby to the Hume Highway - even with traffic lights - peak hour is a different matter though.

I used the M7 when it was free and sussed it all out - it is a rip off and even though I travel from Canberra to Newcastle every few weeks I do not use it - the toll, the booking fee, the account usage fee plus the M2 toll do not make it viable.

More importantly you can by Krispy Kremes at Orange Grove on the old road where you cannot get anything on the M7.

I share your pain.

Gazzz

[Dinty]

G'day All, I agree it su*, but you have to remember the gov't mentality sydney is nsw, rooty hill is the outback, and the rest of us can get *&^%$#@, and thats the way it is, no matter what gov't will be in power, cheers Dennis:wasntme:
PS Yes it was.:mad:

[Blknight.aus]

You better believe it and if you are going north you will find yourself on the M2 (the M7 magically becomes the M2 near Pennant Hills) and you have to pay that toll as well. When coming south - how in the hell do you get onto the M7 without going on the M2 - there are no signs on Pennant Hills Road until you reach the M2.



Gazzz

Simple its a landrover yeah, see them there embankments? drive over em...

you drive a 4x4 your paying more road going tax for a reason, you get more places to go with your vehicle... At least thats what I tell people who get upset when I drive past traffic jams in the spoon drains.
:)

[dobbo]

I usually go the other, of the other ways (from Campbelltown) through Holsworthy so my boys and myself can perve at the mil Landy's then straight up to Bankstown airport, turn left onto Henry Lawson drive, through to Parramatta via Woodville Rd, right onto Parramatta Rd left onto James Ruse Drive. Right onto Pennant Hills Rd and follow through till the F3 then drive Northbound to home.


In certain conditions, obviously not peak hour, it takes 5 minutes less than Cumberland highway, get to see Landy's and at Holsworthy, Villawood and Parramatta, drive past or if not in a hurry visit the Moorebank ARB store. I haven't measured the km's but it feels a lot shorter.

[p38arover]

I have an E-tag for the M4 and M5 (the toll charges, except for the GST, are refunded). I use the M7 only if I'm going to the airport (not very often) because it makes it so easy - no traffic lights from Emu Plains to the approach to the airport.

Ron

[RobHay]

I don't have an opinion on this ........I live in Queensland :D ;)

[p38arover]

I don't have an opinion this ........I live in Queensland :D ;)

I can use my E-tag on both Melbourne tollways and, I assume, Qld tollways. I didn't get charged any tolls when I used it in Melbourne.

ROn

[Pedro_The_Swift]

speaking of tollways,,,
anybody want to buy a crosstown tunnel??


you poor old NSW boys will end up wearing that one I think:p:p

[Vandermorph]

Yep it has a toll we went to strathfield once luckily my mum used to live there and knew how to get there without going on the M7 we went down Parramatta Road instead

[Bigbjorn]

I have an attitude about toll roads and bridges. Roads and bridges were built from the public purse for the free use of all and charging a toll for something we have already paid for is a damn imposition. Allee same as having the hide to sell us shares in Telstra & the Commonwealth Bank, which were already owned by the people of Australia. We pay annual registration charges and fuel taxes to build and maintain infrastructure as well as GST, income tax, excise, et so vide. I have taken issue with our aldermen on a number of occasions in the matters of "traffic calming schemes" which I call "traffic jamming schemes". These are the bastard off spring of noisy NIMBY pressure groups, gullible bureaucrats, and ambitious vote-seeking elected servants. Spending many thousands of dollars to inhibit free use of public roads because of the actions of the few who have chosen to live on a busy street and don't like the traffic is almost criminal.

[dobbo]

What gets me about this you beaut road is the cycleways.


Since when did pushbike riders pay any roadtaxes? In fact why have they got the same rights as motorists? They don't pay any registration nor insurance, therefore no contribution to the roads (for their bicycles anyway) so why have a designated cycleway for them? I wonder if they get charged a toll for using the M7, I very much doubt it.


O.K winge over.

[UncleHo]

G'day Folks :)

Only 20 years!!!!!!!! and 1 hour :eek: I was always told it is 50 years and 1 hour:D

When I was travelling from Sydney to Brisbane by coach some years ago (yes, it was cheaper than driving, God rest VIP coaches) there was one driver that always used to state over the intercomm,on arriving at the Qld Border, "Ladies and Gentlemen, we are now entering Joh-Rusalem, please reset your watches back 1 hour and 50 years" :D :D That always had the entire passenger load cracking -up It's that one hour of extra sunshine that fades the curtains, isn't that right Numpty's Missus.:D ;) ;)


Bung-Tiddley.

[dmdigital]

E-Tag??? Whats that???
Remember...I live in Qld. 20yrs and 1 hour behind NSW :D :D :p


Lucky you're not in Tassie or the NT then :p

Being 20 years behind NSW should be considered an advantage. We can all learn from their mistakes :eek:

[Grizzly_Adams]

Being 20 years behind NSW should be considered an advantage. We can all learn from their mistakes :eek:
Alas, if only we did :(

[Ace]

Whats a toll? we dont get them out this far. :D

I have only been on the M7 once, forgot to pay, it cost me $17:D

[Utemad]

E-Tag??? Whats that???
Remember...I live in Qld. 20yrs and 1 hour behind NSW :D :D :p

We have them too. It is a plastic lump you stick in and pull out of a slot at the toll booth that deducts the toll from your toll acount. I use E-tag instead.

We have to pay in advance like a prepaid phone in Qld. I think only big business can get a monthly account.

[numpty]

Alas, if only we did :(

Exactly. It has always amazed me that the smaller/less developed states and territories make the same decisions re urban sprawl, inadeqate road systems, as those states which made the wrong moves in the first place. Brisbane is finding itself in the same place as Sydney and Melbourne did decades ago, only it is now considered progress. I do know, I have lived here for the last 15 yrs, after moving from Sydney. And no, I don't consider this the greatest place in Australia, as most of the time Queenslanders I find are just that, Queenslanders first and possibly Australian maybe.:(

[rick130]

What gets me about this you beaut road is the cycleways.


Since when did pushbike riders pay any roadtaxes? In fact why have they got the same rights as motorists? They don't pay any registration nor insurance, therefore no contribution to the roads (for their bicycles anyway) so why have a designated cycleway for them? I wonder if they get charged a toll for using the M7, I very much doubt it.


O.K winge over.

Actually, this little pushbike rider pays stacks of road taxes, just like you ! ;)

maybe we should register and issue number plates for all those pesky pedestrians to pay for their their damned inconvenient and space wasting footpaths... :p

[UncleHo]

G'day Numpty :)

Yeah, we moved back in 1982 from the Harbour City to a nice peaceful country Caboolture:) before the "Development"boom arrived:( and our daughter was amazed that everybody in her class at primary school was white and spoke english:eek: after doing the first 3 years in a mixed race public school, she could speek Greek at the age of 4 :o we couldn't understand the kid:confused:


Have a good new years Numpty & Missus Numpty:D

[Scouse]

Actually, this little pushbike rider pays stacks of road taxes, just like you ! ;)

Just like 99.9% of all bike riders do.

While Sydney isn't really bicycle friendly, it's good to see cycleways being forethoughts instead of afterthoughts for a change.

[Stepho_62]

G'day All

Oh yeah, Season Greetings n all that stuff. I hope you all get exactly what you deserve in the new year :D:D:wasntme:

Ive read this thread with interest. :D

The age old debate about taxpayers money being used to build traffic infrastructure and the like and then being charged for the priveledge of using it never ceases to amaze me.:o

Of course the thing that a lot of people don't remember (we collectively have a very short national memory) is the poor old governments just can't afford to run the legislature AND be expected to provided services, build roads, edumacate people, keep em healthy, etc etc etc. Why I hear you ask surley thats what they are there for:mad:. Well yes, but when the ol pollies retire after lemme see, 4 terms i think it is they get 3 times their final average salary for the rest of thier life. They get free air travel, thier medical expenses are partially funded etc etc etc.

So they look at the national balance sheet and go "Hmmmm bugger it, I'll charge the bastards that use it". :p

Is it any wonder that you blokes on the mainland have to pay extra to drive down a piece of concrete 5 lanes wide in either direction?????

Now if you lived in Tasmania ATM you would not pay a single toll for ANYTHING ANYWHERE, Rush hour lasts 5 minutes, you can buy a reasonable house with a view like this http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b165/Woger_Wabbit/General/2004_0423Image0001.jpg 5 minutes from the CBD for say $350k, There's bugger all crime, (except in parliment) :D , Being landy owners there is plenty of tracks to play on, (some of them are part of the national highway) and life is generally good.

Oh yeah, no 2nd hand tunnels for sale, but you could buy an entire city block with genuine colonial buildings for about $10m AUD http://www.news.com.au/mercury/story/0,22884,20977708-3462,00.html, AND its only 15 minutes from the CBD to the airport (about $25 bucks in a cab) :D

If you really want to have a look at rushhour go here http://www.transport.tas.gov.au/traffic_updates/#nullat 5:15 pm.

And finally u never know what you will find outside your window when u live in paradise like we do. This is this mornings effort. http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b165/Woger_Wabbit/General/2007_0101Image0017.jpg

[Grizzly_Adams]

Actually, this little pushbike rider pays stacks of road taxes, just like you ! ;)

maybe we should register and issue number plates for all those pesky pedestrians to pay for their their damned inconvenient and space wasting footpaths... :p
I think more what he was getting at is that the cyclists don't pay seperate road taxes for using the road & / or the infrastructure.

ie. you don't have to register your bike to use the road like you have to in some countries.

EXTREME example: if you don't have a vehicle and only use your bike and public transport to get around, you're not paying any road taxes yet still using the road.

[barney]

I have an E-tag for the M4 and M5 (the toll charges, except for the GST, are refunded). I use the M7 only if I'm going to the airport (not very often) because it makes it so easy - no traffic lights from Emu Plains to the approach to the airport.

Ron
so, Ron, if you go to the airport via the M7 and M2, what happens to the traffic lights through lane cove? do they turn them off for you?
AND ANOTHER THING! why do you get the toll refunded for the M4 and M5? i've heard of this before from western suburbs friends (yes i do have some). why don't the northern beaches and north shore folks get a refund on the bridge toll, we're not all rich you know. i reckon i'd have a fair windfall coming if they back dated it 25yrs. probably be able to pay off the house.

[AndyK]

Brilliant!!!

I've read your replies with mirth in my heart, in Britain "congestion" is a "big" problem and is being tackled by the government by taxing to death anything to do with internal combustion engines. I'm all for environmental schemes but only when they target the right culprits - motorists are not "it". At the moment 4WD is the big target for big headlines by politicians. I pay £185 Road Tax a year(originally to actually pay for roads), £35 MoT fee (road worthiness) insurance is just plain ridiculous and then we pay the most tax on fuel on Earth (it feels like it - 75% I think). In cities they now complain that (really) 4WD's take up more room on the road (watched too many Yank flicks), they take up two parking places (bad parking?), they reduce visibility for ordinary cars so kids are going to be killed wholesale, there's more but I don't want to think about it. I don't live in a city so the above problems don't apply but I will be punished for owning a 4WD. There is now talk of Road Tax of around £1000 for 4WDs to discourage people from running them - and you think you've got it bad!!!!!

[p38arover]

so, Ron, if you go to the airport via the M7 and M2, what happens to the traffic lights through lane cove? do they turn them off for you?
AND ANOTHER THING! why do you get the toll refunded for the M4 and M5? i've heard of this before from western suburbs friends (yes i do have some). why don't the northern beaches and north shore folks get a refund on the bridge toll, we're not all rich you know. i reckon i'd have a fair windfall coming if they back dated it 25yrs. probably be able to pay off the house.

No, the M4, M7, and M5 - I'm coming from Emu Plains so I don't go anywhere near lane Cove.

The toll refund only applies to privately owned/registered vehicles and has been in place for about 10 years. See http://www.rta.nsw.gov.au/usingroads/motorwaysandtolling/m4m5_cashbackscheme.html

http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/windfall-as-toll-refunds-are-forgotten/2006/02/12/1139679480821.html

Ron

[Stepho_62]

Ahmmmm....Adrian, you forgot to mention that you also have to be very friendly with close relatives :p :twisted: Althought that would be one of the negatives with living in Tas...a little like having two heads eh? ;) :p
Sorry, Forgetting my manners.

G'day Numpty's Mrs,

I read this a few times an came up with various responses varying from the "subtle sarcastic" to the "downright rude." :o

Being true to form I've decided to go with the downrite rude :D.
As for relatives its just depends how good lookin she was. And as for the 2 heads, well I've always had em. One of them I even think with. :D:D:D:wasntme:

[Stepho_62]

Andy

I aint complainin. I live in one of the best places on earth. I've got the rest of Oz as a playground. Its these poor silly buggers that live in the rest of Oz that I really feel for. Emigrate, I'm sure we can fit one more pom in somehwere. This will even make u feel like u r at home :D

http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b165/Woger_Wabbit/General/mumspics002.jpg




Brilliant!!!

I've read your replies with mirth in my heart, in Britain "congestion" is a "big" problem and is being tackled by the government by taxing to death anything to do with internal combustion engines. I'm all for environmental schemes but only when they target the right culprits - motorists are not "it". At the moment 4WD is the big target for big headlines by politicians. I pay £185 Road Tax a year(originally to actually pay for roads), £35 MoT fee (road worthiness) insurance is just plain ridiculous and then we pay the most tax on fuel on Earth (it feels like it - 75% I think). In cities they now complain that (really) 4WD's take up more room on the road (watched too many Yank flicks), they take up two parking places (bad parking?), they reduce visibility for ordinary cars so kids are going to be killed wholesale, there's more but I don't want to think about it. I don't live in a city so the above problems don't apply but I will be punished for owning a 4WD. There is now talk of Road Tax of around £1000 for 4WDs to discourage people from running them - and you think you've got it bad!!!!!

[numpty]

. As for relatives its just depends how good lookin she was. And as for the 2 heads, well I've always had em. One of them I even think with. :D:D:D:wasntme:

How does it go " If She's no good for her own family, She's no good for ours":p

[PhilipA]

The answer re toll refund is that the voters in Liverpool and points west are , wait for it, LABOUR voters.
The voters on the North shore are LIBERAL voters.
I lived on the insular peninsula for 15 years and the roads did not change even though the population went up by about 50%. Labour hates them and the Libs take them for granted, until we became marginal by electing an independent when Brogden( Liberal) spun out.

I love my etag. I rode my motorcycle into the city for 6 years and every day went through the bus lane on the Cahill expressway. Sydneyites will know how good that is.
I seem to recall that the Hornibrook Highway Bridge had a toll , Oh about 50 years ago. OK you Queenslanders show your knowledge or how old you are.
Regards Philip A

[Stepho_62]

How does it go " If She's no good for her own family, She's no good for ours":p

Come on Numpty, we're not that bad. I've searched back 2 generations in my wifes family and only found 4 direct decendants of my own :p.

Nah I'm only kidding. There is at least 490,000 choices divided by about 2.7 (more women than men). :D

[Grizzly_Adams]

I seem to recall that the Hornibrook Highway Bridge had a toll , Oh about 50 years ago. OK you Queenslanders show your knowledge or how old you are.

I remember she had a toll, though I was never alive when she had it.

[Bigbjorn]

The Hornibrook Highway and Indooroopilly bridges were privately owned and charged tolls accordingly. When the Indooroopilly bridge was handed to public ownership about 1958, the toll was stopped and the public company wound up and the shareholders were refunded their capital as well as a substantial final dividend from reserve funds. I don't recall what happened when the Hornibrook became toll free.

[dmdigital]

There are places you can live where there are:

No toll ways

No traffic lights

No round-abouts

No bridges

No tunnels

No peak hour traffic

...and places to use the four wheel drive :D

Just another reason not to live in the big cities. Wait for Sydney, Melbourne or Brisbane to copy London and introduce a conjestion toll :eek:

[dmdigital]

True....but if everyone lived in those places.......:D ;)

...it would be bloody crowded.

Still I have a 730km drive to find a traffic light, I can live with that:p

[UncleHo]

G'day Folks:)

Yes the "Hornibrook Highway" had a toll up to about 1975 I think, or until the new "Houghton Highway" (that 3 lane concrete segmented thing ) was built, I was in Royal Brisbane Hospital for a lot of 73 and one of the patients in a bed opposite me was a toll colector that had been cleaned-up by a drunk driver, he was a large man and was in a Spiker Cast:(

[Grizzly_Adams]

Yes the "Hornibrook Highway" had a toll up to about 1975 I think, or until the new "Houghton Highway" (that 3 lane concrete segmented thing ) was built

In that case I was alive but not of an age to remember much of it :)

Yes there is alot they could do with the old Hornibrook bridge, however as it's a "between-shire" structure (ie. Redcliffe and Brisbane) neither wants to spend the money to maintain it.

Redcliffe certainly doesn't have the money to spend on it that Brisbane might, and Brisbane won't come to the party unless Redcliffe does to the same extent... :eek:

[p38arover]

I remember back in the Sixties, my grandfather mentioned he had something to do with the Hornibrook Highway. I don't know if he provided finance to Hornibrook or whether he owned the land. I'll have to ask Dad.

He did have a lot of land in Brissie. I know that at one stage he owned a long tract (a mile or more) along Beaudesert Rd at Calamvale. It extended a fair way back in to the bush.

It was pretty much all gone by the time he died in the mid-Sixties.

Ron

[Bigbjorn]

Sorry, Forgetting my manners.

G'day Numpty's Mrs,

I read this a few times an came up with various responses varying from the "subtle sarcastic" to the "downright rude." :o

Being true to form I've decided to go with the downrite rude :D.
As for relatives its just depends how good lookin she was. And as for the 2 heads, well I've always had em. One of them I even think with. :D:D:D:wasntme:

The Anglican vicar in Winton is from Tasmania. Both his children had a thyroid problem requiring surgery. They tell people that the scars on their necks are from having the second head amputated before being allowed to travel overseas to the big island.

[George130]

Wow lots of responses. I took the cumberland up and then stupidly drove to Ryde on the way back. Ended up taking several wrong turns and then in a huff due to the traffic and narrow lanes got on the M5 and ran from Sydney as fast as I could! I'm definatly not a city person.

[101RRS]

and why are tollways called motorways - how do you tell which motorway is free and which is a toll - I understand that Freeways ie F3 in NSW are not funded by the NSW govt but are Federal roads.

So in NSW why don't Tollways start with a T and free roads start with an F or M ?

Gazzz

[George130]

Because then it would be easy ti workout.

[101RRS]

Because then it would be easy ti workout.

Dahh - silly me

[p38arover]

The M7 toll system sux!
I can't use the visitor system as I don't use or have credit cards. This means I have to register as an occasional user to allow them do direct debit my account. Been told it will end up with $10 in fees as well as the toll! Why can't they set up a better system for out of town people?

Edd, if you go to your CU (or similar) you can get a Visa Debit Card which can be used like a credit card but actually draws from your account.

Ron