ANOTHER BANKRUPT TUNNEL COMPANY

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Originally Posted by wardy1

Hey Mick,
If you have an Etag, you can use all of the toll roads in Oz and only pay the Etag price, which is lower than the 'day use' or single use price. You only need to keep enough credit on the tag to cover your use so as an occasional user, you can top it up whenever you need to using your online banking.
We just have to accept that these days, if we want these roads/tunnels, it is a user pays just like it is in most countries.... do you all think the famous Autobahns in Germany are free? If you want to take 3 hours to get to work in Japan, don't pay tolls, if you want to get to work in an hour, you pay.
From my perspective, I'll pay $6-8 for Eastlink and save myself an hour of my day avoiding the tolls.
Either pay tolls, or pay more in tax, rego or something else. Since everyone I talk to reckons that $700 is a lot to register and CTP their cars, I don't think they'd react well to having an extra $100 added for roads they don't use.

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The thing is, where the toll roads are, I don't have a need to use them that often. I don't have much to do in the east.
When Citylink first started (Transurban I think it was back then) I was going to get an eTag. I read the fine print. They wanted to keep a minimum balance of $20 and dip into my bank account whenever they saw fit. And (here's the bit that I wasn't prepared to accept) If I hadn't used the tollway in a year, Transurban were going to debit the account $20 for the privilege of having an account with them. True. That was in the info pack Transurban sent to me way back in 1998-99.
In it's twelve or thirteen years of operation I have only found it necessary to use it four times, and that was following friends.
It's just not my side of town nor does it go anywhere I want to go.

All the famous Autobahns in Germany ARE free ...



And I will be driving on them again in May this year.

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Originally Posted by Ralph1Malph

On an up note.:p
Tunnels are rarely filled in after being built.:D
We may therefore have a free tunnel (almost).:o
The next buyer will get a bargain so won't need to charge exorb tolls.:cool:

Ralph

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Ralph

The next owner may get a bargain, but as sure as night follows day, the tolls won't be going down, likely ever! Look at the Sydney Harbour Bridge built in the 1930's paid off in the 1970s and the toll keeps going up.

For a resident of the Hills District, around Cherrybrook who works between the city and the Airport, it's a $26 a day return trip in bumper to bumper traffic, just for tunnel, bridge and motorway tolls.

Diana

Tolls are just a means by which to abrogate the responsibility of the state to provide infrastructure and a means by which to hand a company an earner for 30 years or more.

I did not mind the idea of some peppercorn toll to assist the state to pay off the debt. I think the Westgate bridge here in Melbourne had a 20 cent toll which was eventually abolished by one of the Labor governments, John Cain I think!

It might be meant to be user pays but we are already paying the state for the privilege of having a vehicle registered. When you have more than one vehicle like some LR owners with a tourer and another daily driver, they get more money than the value you can extract/you can possibly use.

The last time I was on the Autobahn it was free.

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Originally Posted by slug_burner

T I think the Westgate bridge here in Melbourne had a 20 cent toll which was eventually abolished by one of the Labor governments, John Cain I think!

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It was 60c when I was using it regularly and I remember it going up to 80c.
It created regular employment and made money for the government.
Oh, and it was simple to use.

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Originally Posted by Ralph1Malph

On an up note.:p
Tunnels are rarely filled in after being built.:D
We may therefore have a free tunnel (almost).:o

Ralph

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Exactly, at least we get a tunnel and road, unlike the Gold Coast Tram System, errr Light Rail. I prefer tram, if it looks like dog doo and smells like dog doo etc. When it is finished it will have blocked traffic through Southport and Surfers, killed off parking sent shop keepers broke and will be a complete failure that will not only cost us to build but also cost us to rip up.:mad: