Toll tariff 'unfair on elderly'

A 9-metre high electronic tolling gantry being installed on the Tauranga Eastern Link earlier this year.

A Route K toll booth operator says the introduction of a new electronic tolling system on August 1 will penalise elderly drivers who do not have access to computers.

Paul O'Grady, one of 14 full-time and part-time operators due to be made redundant, said people who paid for their tolls at selected BP and Caltex stations will incur an additional transaction fee of $1.20.

He said a lot of the more mature people who used Route K did not have computers and he said it was unfair that they would have to pay extra.

Electronic tolling gantries straddling Route K and the new Tauranga Eastern Link will use latest technologies to capture the images of passing vehicles' number plates, eliminating the need for toll booths.

Casual or infrequent users who did not want to open an account had the options of paying for their toll online for no additional charge or in person at service stations for a fee.

Mr O'Grady said the 40c fee charged for Auckland's Northern Gateway toll road was reasonable but not $1.20.

"I am sure they will be able to justify it but I can't believe it will be $1.20," he said.

Cars and other light vehicles using the Eastern Link will pay tolls of $2 and heavy vehicles $5, while the Route K tariff will be $1.80 and $4.80.

New Zealand Transport Agency spokesman Andy Knackstedt responded that when the new tolls system goes live on August 1, the Northern Gateway transaction fee would rise to $1.20.

He said the fee covered administrative costs and was divided between the payment service provider and the retailer, with the agency only receiving the toll.

The fee was the same, regardless of how many tolls were purchased at one time. "To reduce the cost, people could choose to purchase more than one toll, which are valid for up to 24 months," he said.

Mr O'Grady said the lease was not being renewed with the toll booth operator, so there were no jobs after July 31. He has worked in the toll booths for two years, with some of his colleagues' service stretching back more than nine years.

The agency has agreed to take ownership of Route K from the Tauranga City Council, including debt amounting to nearly $63 million.

Mr O'Grady understood that 16 more people were being employed in Palmerston North to run the new toll roads. Mr Knackstedt said the agency had employed a number of staff in the interim to support people with inquiries when the two roads were added and the new toll system rolled out.