Open road tolling reduces Tyne Tunnel journey times and carbon

Tyne Tunnel says a six-month review since it switched to open-road-tolling shows both journey times and C02 emissions have been slashed.

The tunnels moved to a cashless, booth-free system in November 2021 and operator TT2 says the changes have had a positive impact for commuters.

Like other free-flow operations, cameras automatically register journeys and payment needs to be made before midnight the following day.

On an average day, TT2 believes northbound journeys are now 39 seconds faster and southbound trips 26 seconds quicker while claiming C02 emissions have reduced by 90%.

During the first month, some 94.6% of drivers paid their toll on time, by May this had risen to 96.74%.

Philip Smith, CEO of Tyne Tunnel, said, “We were fortunate to follow in the footsteps of open-road-tolling launches at the Dartford Tunnel and the Mersey Crossing, and we have benefitted significantly from many of the lessons they learned.

“Of course, there have been some bumps in the road because changing a tolling system that has been in operation for decades and one that handles 18 million journeys every year is a challenge. But we continue to listen to our customers and learn how we can do better.

“The fact that we now have almost 97% of drivers paying their toll without issue, is testament to the hard work of our team at TT2 and the strong partnership we have with our client, NECA.