'Freeflow charging must be rigorously enforced' THE HIGHWAYS Agency (HA)
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will need to ensure that charges to use the Dartford Crossing are more rigorously enforced now that plans to introduce a freef low charging system next year have been confirmed, said the Freight Transport Association (FTA).
According to the FTA, the HA 's own figures suggest that £21m a year in charges, mainly from foreign-registered operators, are likely to remain unpaid when tolling booths are removed to ease congestion in October 2014.
Malcolm Bingham, head of road network management policy at the FTA, said: "There will be occasions of genuine administrative error which should be dealt with in a sensible and pragmatic way, but there has to be a robust system in place to enforce against all those who deliberately avoid payment." A spokesman for the HA said that, if necessary, it will use debt collection agencies to recoup unpaid tolls.
The system will work in a similar way to the London Congestion Charge, allowing operators to pay via telephone, text message, online or at a retail outlet. Tolls, which currently stand at £5 for LGVs and £2.50 for vans, could increase with the new system.