Stoate discusses the confirmation of the Dartford Crossing discount for Dartford residents 

So it’s official: Dartford residents are going to get a discount on the Dartford Crossing toll.

The discount scheme, which was officially approved by Transport Minister, Rosie Winterton in a statement to Parliament earlier this month, will go ahead along the lines set out in the public consultation that ended in May. The Minister has yet to give a precise start date for the discount scheme but she has made it clear that the Department is still on course to introduce it in the Autumn as originally intended.

So how will the scheme actually work? The first thing to bear in mind is that you will need to be a resident of Dartford Borough in order to qualify for the discount. The scheme itself will operate on a pre-payment basis in much the same manner as many mobile phone payment schemes. To get the discount you will need to pay a fee of £10 each year upfront. In return for this you will get an electronic tag that will entitle you to 50 crossings a year (charged at a notional rate of 20p per crossing). If you need to make more than 50 crossings a year however, you will be able to top up the credit level on your tag at the rate of 20p per crossing.

The Minister also confirmed in her statement that tags will be registered to a specific vehicle and will not be transferable between vehicles registered at one address. Householders will be able however to apply for a tag for every vehicle registered at their address. She also confirmed that the scheme will only be open to private cars and will not be extended to commercial vehicles, vans or lorries. Leased and company cars may be eligible but only where evidence can be provided that they are for the private use of a resident.

Having campaigned hard for a local discount scheme over the last 18 months or so, I’m naturally very pleased that the Minister has now given the scheme the go-ahead. I’m not going to pretend that it’s the ideal solution – like most people in Dartford I would have preferred to see the tolls scrapped altogether – but I think it represents the best achievable solution for Dartford. The Department for Transport is adamant that the tolls are necessary to control the volume of traffic that uses the crossing, and whatever one thinks about this position, it’s clear that they are not going to shift from it.

The discount scheme may not be perfect, but it will provide substantial savings for Dartford residents who use the crossing – particularly those who work north of the river or have friends or family living over there. It will go some way therefore to making up for all the congestion and inconvenience that we as Dartford residents have to put up on a daily basis because of the crossing. All things considered I think it represents a good deal for Dartford.