Canny drivers responded to the New Zealand Transport Agency's announcement last month that some toll charges would increase on the Northern Gateway Toll road on State Highway 1 on August 1 by opening more than 1000 new pre-paid accounts.
Charges for payment by phone and at the pay kiosks increased yesterdayto help cover administration costs.
The road's base tolls of $2 per trip for light vehicles and $4 for heavy vehicles remain unchanged.
Tolls paid by pre-pay and web account do not change, but kiosk payments incur a charge of 40c a transaction, and phone payments, $3.70.
The administration charges apply per payment, not per trip.
This means two $2 trips bought at the same time and paid for by phone or at a kiosk on the route now cost $4.40; likewise, buying 10 trips in a single transaction only costs 40c, the total cost being $20.40.
Administration charges for toll payment notices (issued for tolls which remain unpaid five days after using the road) also increased, going from $2.20 to $4.90 yesterday to reflect the actual cost of administering toll payment notices, says Stephen Town, NZTA regional director for Auckland and Northend.
Another cost-cutting measure is also the pending reduction in hours of the toll payment contact centre, from 8.30am-5pm seven days, to 8am-6pm on weekdays.
The rush to set up accounts brought the number of active accounts to 57,300, meaning people paying in this way account for about 58 per cent of all trips on the toll road.
The route's website is www.tollroad.govt.nz.
