Cost of Tamar Bridge and Torpoint Ferry crossings to go up by 30%

The Tamar Bridge and Torpoint Ferry carry about 18 million vehicles a year

The cost of using the Tamar Bridge and ferry crossings is set to go up by 30%.

Plymouth City Council voted for the tolls to increase from £2 to £2.60 for cash users, and from £1 to £1.30 for discounted tags.

The proposal was set out by the Tamar Bridge and Torpoint Ferry Joint Committee in December and has now been agreed by the council.

The new prices on tags could come in during the next few months with the new cash prices starting from January 2023.

Use of the crossings plummeted as a result of Covid-19, resulting in a large drop in revenue, the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) said.

Councillor Pat Patel said: "The decision to increase the toll was taken very reluctantly by the Tamar Bridge and Torpoint Ferry committees and we looked at all options."

As "parent authorities," Plymouth City Council and Cornwall Council have a legal responsibility to pay for budget deficits.

Councillors across parties agreed the government should pay towards the running of the crossing service. 

A report by the council's transport chiefs argued that without the toll increase the crossings will run into deficits from the 2022/23 financial year onwards and reach over £10 million by 2025/26.

The 30% fare increases are forecast to create an £800,000 surplus by 2025/26.

The government's one-off £3million payment in November 2020 deferred the increase.

The council has tried to get the Department for Transport to contribute to the running of Tamar Bridge but it has refused, the LDRS said.

The Tamar Bridge was built in 1961 as a local enterprise between Cornwall Council and Plymouth City Council after attempts to get the government to build a crossing failed

Leader of Plymouth City Council, Councillor Nick Kelly said: "At a time when all finances are being squeezed, it is not fair that we have to ask users of the bridge to put their hands deeper into their pockets.

"But we have no choice. But what will happen in the years to come, as road users further decline?   

"We are only asking the government for our fair share. We only want the A38 over the Tamar Bridge to be considered in the same way as other major strategic links in the UK."

Rules around the funding of the crossings were set by The Tamar Bridge Act 1957, which states that the crossings must be financially supported by tolls.