Dartford Crossing toll should be scrapped, says FTA

The Freight Transport Association (FTA) has said that scrapping the Dartford Crossing toll on the M25 motorway would benefit the local community more through reducing noise and pollution than by giving the residents a discount to use the facility.

The FTA is dismayed that residents are to get a discount, while charges are increased for everyone else, including local businesses.

It said the government promised to scrap the tolls once the bridge was paid for - and that day came on Tuesday 1 April 2003.

The FTA argued that scrapping the tolls altogether would have a far more beneficial impact on the local economy, which uses the crossing as a key link to markets on either side of the Thames.

There are few alternatives to using the crossing as drivers would spend more on fuel trying to avoid the charge than it costs to cross the bridge.

However, the FTA said the process of stopping traffic and collecting a fee is a major cause of congestion and pollution and that the £2.90 charge for lorries is dwarfed by the cost of the delay caused by collecting the toll.