Motorists heading along the Northern Gateway Toll Road will have to pay a little more for the privilege come March 1.
Tolls on the State Highway 1 road north of Auckland will increase by 20 cents to $2.20 for cars, motorcycles and light commercial vehicles, and by 40 cents to
$4.40 for heavy commercial vehicles from that date.
The NZ Transport Agency says the increases are necessary for the agency to maintain the toll road and repay its $158 million debt. The toll road opened three years ago.
NZTA's regional director for Auckland and Northland, Stephen Town, defended the increase.
"Although the legislation covering the toll road allows for the tolls to be annually adjusted in line with increases in the Consumer Price Index (CPI), they haven't increased since the road opened in January 2009. Inflation and the 2010 GST increase have both impacted on the NZTA's ability to maintain its debt repayment level, so it has become necessary to adjust the tolls," says Mr Town.
The agency says borrowing $158M of the total $372.5M construction cost, meant the toll road was built 10 years earlier than it would have been under traditional funding methods.
By the end of last December, the NZTA had repaid $17.5M of the debt.
Transaction charges introduced in August 2011 to some toll payment methods will not increase. They remain at 40 cents for payment by kiosk and $3.70 when payment is made by phone.
Transaction charges apply each time one or more tolls are paid for. For example, from March 1, the total cost of purchasing one toll trip at a kiosk will be $2.60 - a $2.20 toll plus a 40c administration charge - and the total cost of purchasing 10 trips at a kiosk will be $22.40 - $22 for the ten trips plus a 40c administration fee.
There is no administration fee for tolls paid on-line at www.tollroad.govt.nz, or for 'set and forget' toll accounts.
"To minimise cost and time for road users, we encourage customers to pay by toll pre-pay account or via the website as neither of those payment options attract extra cost," says Mr Town.
The toll road is a 7km section of SH1 between Orewa and Puhoi which provides road users a shorter, quicker option to its free alternative - SH17 through Waiwera.
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