At last, we may see reform of Sydney’s pricey and inconsistent road tolls. Results of the Independent Toll Review were released in mid-July 2024. We look at its main recommendations and explain why your road tolls could fall.
Simpler and fairer tolls
Most people agree Sydney’s tolls are far too high and hard to understand. The Independent Toll Review, commissioned by the NSW government, set out to make tollroads simpler and fairer.
Results just published in mid-July show real intention to reform the system. The report made 42 recommendations for the government to consider.
In essence, the recommendations claim to put the interests of motorists first. The NSW government would take back control of tolls through a new entity, NSW Motorways. This would be responsible for creating a brand new toll network.
A brand new toll network
The main reason tolls will fall, particularly for motorists in the western suburbs, is because of two-way tolling and the new heavy vehicle class.
This is a brief summary of recommended changes to Sydney’s tolls:
- Creation of a new, consistent toll network across Sydney
- Declining distance charges for longer trips and infrastructure charges for tollroads with bridges or tunnels
- Two-way tolling on the Eastern Distributor (ED) and Sydney Harbour Crossings (SHC)
- A new heavy vehicle class, creating four vehicle classes with different multipliers of the base toll
- M5 Cashback continues (or divert $250 million per year to reducing tolls further.
Owners of tollroads have said they could negotiate other funding sources to reduce tolls – as long as their revenue stays the same. The report recommends a new adjustment mechanism so that all toll network income is fairly distributed among tollroad owners.
How much will tolls cost?
The report claims tolls would drop 40% and two fifths of trips would cost less in 2026. Here are some examples of these reductions:
- SHC peak from $4.27 to $4.20, off-peak from $2.67 to $1.60
- ED from $9.63 to $3
- Cross City Tunnel from $6.95 to $3
- Lane Cove Tunnel from $4.04 to $2
- NorthConnex from $9.75 to $2
- WestConnex M8 from $8.47 to 50c
- M4-M8 link from $6 to $1
- Other WestConnex roads, all 50c
The report also recommends declining distance charges for longer trips, from 65 cents per km to 50 cents per km.
Better information about tolls
The review found motorists don’t have a single source of information about tolls. It suggests TfNSW, NSW Motorways and Linkt work together to create a new one stop shop. This would show trip information and statements, how much you have spent and will spend on tolls, cost comparisons and available rebates.
greenslips.com.au has been writing about tolls for some time. It will be interesting to see which of these recommendations the NSW government adopts.