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Concessionary Rates and Discounts
Under the Whitchurch Bridge Acts of 1792 and 1988, the Whitchurch Bridge Company is obliged to maintain a Bridge crossing at Whitchurch in perpetuity and is empowered to collect Tolls at any time to finance its operations. However, Tolls are normally collected only from 7am until 9pm on weekdays, 8am to 8pm on Saturdays, and 9am to 8pm on Sundays.
Tolls are collected at the Toll Booth at the Whitchurch-on-Thames (north) end of the Bridge.
The Company’s Tolls are regulated under the Transport Charges etc (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1954. Tolls may only be increased when permission has been applied for and given in the form of a Department for Transport Toll Order. In recent times Tolls have been increased in July 1993, July 1998, and April 2005.
The current
Toll Charges were introduced on Monday 25th April 2005. The new
charges were authorised by Department for Transport Toll Order No. 1034
dated 31st March 2005, and are as follows:
| Class 1 | Vehicles under 3.5 tonnes mgw | 20p |
| Class 2 | Vehicles of 3.5 tonnes mgw and over, up to 7.5 tonnes mgw | £2 |
There is no charge for cycles or motorcycles.
There is a statutory weight limit of 7.5 tonnes mgw on the Bridge.
Concessionary Rates and Discounts (revised 30th June 2009)
The Company is under no obligation to offer concessionary rates, discounts or free crossings to any users whatsoever. However, the Company operates a pre-payment system based on proximity cards known as "Bridge Cards", and currently offers concessions to Bridge users as shown below. Click here for Bridge Card FAQ's.
a) Concessionary discounts with effect from 16th February 2009
| Class 1 |
Bridge Card Pack Initial Purchase Includes £5 (returnable) deposit for your Bridge Card, plus £5 credit for crossings at the discounted rate applicable at the time of use. At the current discounted rate of 13.89p, £5 gives you 36 crossings. |
£10 |
|
Class 1 |
Bridge Card Top-up (see Note below) From Monday 29th June 2009. Adds £10 credit to your Bridge Card Account for crossings at the current discounted rate of 13.89p, which gives you 72 crossings. You may top-up only when your "uses remaining" is 40 or less. |
£10
|
| Class 2 |
Book of 20 tickets £20 worth of crossings at the discounted rate applicable at the time of use. At the current discounted rate of £1, £20 gives you 20 crossings. |
£20 |
Note: Please click here for a copy of the flier available at the Toll Booth explaining the reasons for the change in the Bridge Card Top-up amount from £5 to £10 as from Monday 29th June 2009.
b) Free crossings for Disabled Drivers
The Company allows free crossings for disabled drivers who are in possession of a valid Vehicle Tax Exemption Certificate (Forms DLA404 or WPA442) for their own vehicle, or who use a vehicle provided under the Motability scheme. To take advantage of this concession, disabled drivers need to pre-register with the Company using the Disabled Driver Registration Form which may be downloaded here or obtained on request from the Toll Collectors.
c) Emergency Vehicles
The Company allows free crossings for liveried fire appliances, police vehicles and ambulances. Any liveried ambulance with "ambulance" signage will be allowed a free crossing, including non-emergency ambulances.
The Company's Toll Application dated 31st October 2008 (updated 30th June 2009)
The Company's Business Plan shows that it needs an increase in Toll Revenue to fund the reconstruction of the Bridge (click here for more details about Bridge reconstruction).
The 20p and £2 cash Tolls are regulated and cannot be increased until the Company successfully applies for permission from the Secretary of State for Transport in accordance with the Whitchurch Bridge Acts of 1792 and 1988 and the Transport Charges etc (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1954.
The Company therefore submitted a Toll Application to the Secretary of State for Transport on 31st October 2008 to increase the Tolls, with effect from 1st July 2009, as follows:
|
Classification of Vehicles |
Present |
Proposed |
|
Class 1 vehicle - not exceeding 3.5 tonnes mgw |
20p |
40p |
|
Class 2 vehicle - exceeding 3.5 tonnes mge |
£2 |
£3 |
Click here to view the Company's Toll Application, and click here for Frequently Asked Questions relating to it.
This increase in Tolls will enable the Company to fund about 75 - 80% of the costs of reconstruction from the BRF. The remaining 20 - 25% will be funded by other means.
The Secretary of State ordered a Public Inquiry into the Company's Toll Application which took place at Tuesday 2nd and Wednesday 3rd June 2009. His decision is expected by the end of July 2009.
Bridge Cards - Frequently Asked Questions
1. What are Bridge Cards?
Bridge Cards are part of a computer-based system supplied by Alfia Ltd of Bristol which enables the Whitchurch Bridge Company to offer a concessionary Toll rate to regular Bridge users in an efficient manner. Bridge users who purchase a Bridge Card Pack get a proximity card known as a Bridge Card which is pre-loaded with cash credit for crossings at a discounted rate.
2. How can I obtain a Bridge Cards?
All Bridge users in Class 1 vehicles (ie vehicles under 3.5 tonnes mgw) can buy a Bridge Card Pack from the Toll Collector at the Toll Booth for £10.
3. Why do I have to pay a deposit for my Bridge Card?
Each Bridge Card cost the Company several pounds to purchase, and we need to offer an incentive to Bridge users to take good care of their Bridge Cards so that they are not mislaid and can be topped up and re-used time and time again.
So a deposit of £5 per Bridge Card is currently charged as part of the Bridge Card Pack Initial Purchase price of £10. We think that this amount is a reasonable balance between an affordable deposit and the true cost of the Bridge Card.
Bridge Cards sold prior to Friday 9th March 2007 carried a deposit of £3 - this lower deposit reflected the the lower purchase cost of the initial batch of Bridge Cards, and the Company's policy of offering a significant subsidy on the true cost of Bridge Cards during the initial period of their introduction.
4. How do I use my Bridge Card?
You drive up to the Toll Booth window as now, and stop. You hold your Bridge Card close to the card reader under the window sill, to the right of the LED's. The card reader will bleep when it has read your Bridge Card, and the LED's change from red to green. The system checks your Bridge Card against its database, and if you have some credit left on your Account the barrier will rise automatically.
The system debits the cost of the crossing from your Account at the discounted rate applicable on the date of your crossing, and the display next to the Toll Booth window shows how many pre-paid crossings you have left. Even if you swipe your Bridge Card more than once, and you hear more than one bleep, the system will only debit one crossing from your Bridge Card Account.
When you have driven away the barrier will close automatically behind you.
5. What happens when I use up the the credit on my Bridge Card?
You can top up your Bridge Card with £10 with the Toll Collector at the Toll Booth when you have 40 crossings or fewer remaining. When you arrive at the Booth you should swipe your Bridge Card in the normal way and hand £10 to the Toll Collector. He/she will use a touch screen computer to credit your Account with £10, and when the transaction has been completed the "number of uses remaining" on the display unit in front of you will increase by 72 crossings. Please check that your Bridge Card has been correctly topped up before driving away, as disputes cannot be easily resolved later.
You can only top up your Bridge Card if you have 40 crossings or less remaining, and you can only make a single £10 top-up at one time.
6. Why do you ask that I register my Bridge Card?
We ask that you register your Bridge Card so that:
a) we can return the £3 or £5 deposit on the Bridge Card to the registered owner if the Card is returned to us
b) we can "stop" the Bridge Card if the registered owner reports to us that it has been lost (see FAQ 9).
We will also use postcode data to get a better understanding of the traffic flows over the Bridge, to help us plan. The data will be analysed and presented in a way that does not identify any individual Bridge Card registered owner or his/her Bridge Card usage.
The Whitchurch Bridge Company is registered under the Data Protection Act. We will not pass or disclose information on any registered user, or his/her Bridge Card usage, to any third party for marketing or any other purposes.
We will disclose Bridge Card usage information to the registered owner of that Bridge Card only, and not to any other person or organisation.
7. What happens if I don’t want to buy a Bridge Card?
You will be able to pay a cash Toll of 20p as now. We are not changing the system for paying cash Tolls.
8. Are there any changes for Class 2 vehicles (ie over 3.5 tonnes mgw)?
No. The cash Toll remains at £2 for Class 2 vehicles, and the £20 books of 20 pre-paid tickets will continue to be sold. Bridge Cards are not available for Class 2 vehicles.
9. What happens if I lose my Bridge Card?
a) Lost Card has been registered by you
If you had registered your lost Bridge Card, you should let us know as soon as possible either by email or in writing to the Bridge Manager at the Toll Booth, with your name and address and, if known, the Bridge Card number. We will then put a "stop" on your lost Bridge Card.
You will lose your deposit on the lost Bridge Card and you will need to purchase another Bridge Card Pack at £10. When you register your new Bridge Card, we will transfer the "uses left" from your lost Bridge Card to your new Bridge Card. To enable this transfer to take place, please put a note in with your new Bridge Card Registration Form telling us you've lost your previous Bridge Card, quoting its number if possible, and asking for the unused credit to be transferred to your new Card.
b) Lost Card has not been registered by you
If you had not registered your lost Bridge Card, you will need to purchase a new Bridge Card Pack in the normal way. You will lose the deposit on the lost Bridge Card and the value of the outstanding credit on it.
10. My Bridge Card has split because I used it as an ice scraper [screwdriver etc] - will you replace it free of charge?
We do not replace Bridge Cards which have been accidentally damaged by their owners. We will, however, transfer any unused credit to a newly-purchased Bridge Card provided that the new Bridge Card is registered.
To enable this transfer to take place, please enclose your damaged Bridge Card (the serial number of which must be legible) with your new Bridge Card Registration Form, together with a note asking for the unused credit to be transferred to your new Bridge Card.
11. When the cash Toll goes up from 20p to 40p, will the cost of using my Bridge Card go by the same amount?
No. Although the Company is not obliged to offer discounts on its cash Toll, it is a strategic objective of the Company to do so, in order to encourage the use of Bridge Cards and thus reduce operating costs. We are committed to encouraging the use of the Bridge Card system by all regular users of the Bridge and intend to maintain a substantial discount for Bridge Card users.
Provided that the Company's Toll Application for a 40p cash Toll is approved in full by the Secretary of State for Transport, then unless and until a further Toll Application for an alteration of the cash Toll is made and decided upon by the Secretary of State for Transport the Company undertakes that :
a) The concessionary Toll available to all Bridge Card holders will not exceed 20p before 1st January 2013
b) Thereafter, during the currency of the 40p cash Toll, the concessionary Toll available to all Bridge Card holders will not exceed 30p.
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