"Green" Government Lifts Tolls on Forth Road Bridge

Submitted by edg on Mon, 11 Feb '08 10.58am

Drivers were able to cross the Forth and Tay road bridges free of charge from midnight last night as all tolls were abolished after more than 40 years.

Transport Minister Stewart Stevenson said that removing the tolls was delivering on an election promise and "the end of years of injustice for the communities of Fife, Tayside and the Lothians."

Bridge tolls have been in force on both the Forth Road bridge and the Tay Bridge since they were built: the Forth in 1964, the Tay in 1966. Until midnight it cost £1 to cross the Forth.

Motorist campaigners have been celebrating the end of tolls, but the decision seems out of step with the SNP agenda to aggressively reduce greenhouse gas emissions. It also comes as many UK cities are looking to introduce congestion charges for motorists similar to the high-tech one in place in London where motorists will soon pay up to £25 a day to enter the city.

Dr Dan Barlow, Acting Director of WWF Scotland, criticised the SNP government's decision, saying that it would increase greenhouse gas emissions.

"On economic, social and environmental grounds there is simply no justification for scrapping these tolls. The extra road traffic that will be generated will cost the Scottish economy, increase local pollution and push up climate change emissions."