$25 per toll: Toll price rises set to beat inflation over the next 25 years
New data has given motorists and truck drivers a look into the future where they could be paying $25-$74 per toll by 2048 - much higher than the rate of inflation.
NSW
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Motorists could be slugged up to $25 to access some of Sydney’s busiest roads by the time the state government’s deals with private road operators expire in 2048.
The NorthConnex, which currently costs $8.36 a trip, is expected to blow out to $24.49 by 2048 – increasing by one per cent quarterly, outstripping the rate of inflation.
“Motorists are entitled to feel aggrieved when between them, governments and companies are gouging,” leading economist Saul Eslake said.
Contract settings currently in place will spell trouble for truck drivers with the existing $25.08 toll on the NorthConnex rising to $73.46 by 2048.
The Eastern Distributor costs motorists $8.48 but will balloon to $24.84 with one per cent increases per quarter over the same period.
The data predicts a $21.80 toll for cars using the M4 but it’s understood that the WestConnex, which has a distanced based toll, will have a $10.47 cap on price when the final stage opens in 2023.
The projections were created by the Transport Workers Union using publicly available data on how prices are set to increase and assume the government does nothing to change the existing contracts.
TWU state secretary Richard Olsen called on newly appointed Roads Minister Natalie Ward to urgently address the rising costs of tolls.
“The numbers don’t lie – if the government doesn’t do something urgently, the cost of using these toll roads will triple within the next 25 years,” he said. “(It’s) nothing short of madness.”
Ms Ward said more than 85 per cent of non-business motorists in Sydney paid less than $13 a week on tolls.
“Last financial year alone, almost $70 million was paid to more than 200,000 eligible drivers under the Toll Relief Scheme,” she said.
Labor leader Chris Minns said the government had “signed up Sydney to record tolls for decades to come”.
“The money coming out of the pockets of families goes straight into private hands, rather than being reinvested back into the community.”
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