Tolls on the M2 and M7 were increased in August 2019 but Transurban, the operator of both motorways, has said it will reimburse eligible customers who travelled on the motorways between August and December but that price increases would remain…
You will recall back in August 2019, RV Daily reported that the operators of Sydney’s motorways, Transurban, had made changes to its vehicle tolling classifications for customers who use the M2 and M7 motorways. As a result of these changes, any car towing a caravan with a combined length greater than 12.5 metres and over 2.8 metres in height would be regarded as a Class B heavy commercial vehicle and would be charged accordingly. These charges represented an increase of almost three times the normal car rates.
As the high tolls began to bite, motorists started expressing their dismay on social media. Such was the volume of complaints, radio 2GB’s Ray Hadley called on the NSW government to look into the issue and to consider a much fairer, four classifications toll structure. During an interview with Mr Hadley, NSW Roads Minister, Andrew Constance committed to look into the issue. “I’ve been asked to see what I can do in that classing of A and B. So that’s what I’ll go and do, see what I can do and go from there,” he said.
Well it appears Minister Constance was either unwilling or unable to do anything about the higher tolls.
The state member for Wallsend, Ms Sonia Hornery MP, who also backed the calls for action, announced on her Facebook page that she was disappointed to receive a response from the Roads Minister advising that “the Government has NO plans to reverse the decision to increase the tolls for caravanners and trailers being towed on the M2 and M7 Motorways.”
Fortunately, the news is not all bad.
The operators of Sydney’s motorways, Transurban, told RV Daily they understood some customers may not have been aware of the changes and offered a retrospective grace period between August 26 and December 16 allowing a credit or partial refund for those eligible private customers who incurred a higher toll. The amount refunded would be the difference between the two tolls.
Recognising that the high tolls may be having a negative impact on tourism in NSW, a spokesperson for Transurban told RV Daily, “We support the community push to get more holidaymakers to travel locally and support our regional towns.
“To help with this, we are extending the grace period we announced in December until Saturday, February 29.”
“This means private customers with loads including caravans, trailers and boats who are charged the higher toll from when the changes came into effect last August and the end of summer can have their cost reduced from the Class B toll to the Class A with the difference credited to their account by contacting us on 13 33 31.”
For more information about the rebate, please visit the Transurban website
If you want to take action against these tolls, you can sign a petition organised by Michelle Towers on Change.org by clicking HERE.
