Harbour Bridge

Just getting back in the saddle and was wondering about Harbour Bridge tolls
nowadays.
Before you had the choice of paying cash, using a tag and paying the full
rate, or getting a pass which worked out to about half price (assuming one
trip per weekday).
Obviosuly the first opiton is out now, the second is going up to $4, so is
the periodic pass still available? If so how do you use it?

 

Cash is gone, as you say, and they're about to (tomorrow?) implement
variable tolling which is, as best as I can see, designed to deliver
maximum distress and expense to those who can least afford it;
"thanks for your vote, people of our core electorate, heres a bit
of an increase for your already tight household budget. good luck
with that".

Yes, the "harbour crossings motorcycle periodic toll pass"[1] still
exists though, as you suspect, the operation has changed a little bit.

- You need a toll tag (probably an RTA one, I'm not 100% sure if the
others work), and that toll tag must *only* have bikes linked
to it. Register for a tag, take it home, drop it in a drawer,
you'll never need it again (not for harbour crossings anyway).

- You go to the RTA branch on the Pacific Highway in North
Sydney (technically there's about six or eight RTA offices
that do harbour crossings passes, but the overwhelming sense
of frustration that comes with dealing with the "mumble mumble
moan moan" and "I hope they come up with a tag for you people
soon" and "whinge whinge can't be done mate" that the Chatswood
RTA doles out just isn't worth the grief. The staff (and the
boss-lady) at the North Sydney RTA are cheery, competent and
very helpful. Just go to North Sydney![2] There is a small bike
parking area on Doohat Avenue (first left, 100m North on the
highway from the RTA Office) .


- You tell them that you want the periodic motorcycle toll pass,
that you'd like the periodic pass linked to your 'etag' account,
and you tell them some sort of detail (toll tag serial number
is easiest for them, but name, rego, license number, etc also
works)

- They thrust a form [3] into your hands. You fill in some stuff;
name, address, license number, bike make/model/colour/rego and
sign on the dotted line. See [3] below for the form, things go
faster if you turn up with it already filled in. Makes everyone
happy!

- They take your money. Something in the order of $93 for three
months is what I paid a few weeks ago. (That's around $1.50
per crossing if you cross the bridge inbound once every working
day. Not a bad wicket!)

- They fiddle with their computers for a bit, hand you a receipt,
send you on your way.

- You go and ride your bike across the bridge!


When I set all this up about 6-9 months ago, the folks at the
RTA in North Sydney were quite adamant that, for the porpoises of
using the bridge and the tunnel, I should leave my toll tag at
home. The arse of the bike will be photographed at each crossing
and the account automagically 'debited'. This advice was borne out
more recently when the RTA announced that motorcyclists were no
longer required to carry toll tags at all (even those not using
the periodic pass) and that the 'photo fee' would be waived for
bikes.

Once I'd figured out that the fuckwits at Chatswood RTA were an
exception, not the rule, the whole process became very straigt-
forward. The only real hassle now is that with the electronic tolling,
that old Indian guy (you may have seen him on the telly in the last
few days of cash tolling, he'd been there for twenty years apparently)
is no longer there to shout "DON'T FORGET TO GET A NEW PASS TOMORROW"
at the end of each three month period. That sucks, 'cos sooner or
later my memory WILL fail me, but he never failed!


HTH, HAND,


GB


[1] All of those words are in the title of the thing, but like Obama's
oath, they might not be in that order! My memory is not unlike
Justice Roberts'

[2] Google Maps: <http://tinyurl.com/rtanorthsydney>

[3] Here's a copy of the form I prepared (scanned) earlier:
<http://www.threefiddy.com/ausmoto/RTA_Motorcycle_Periodic_Toll_Pass_Application.pdf>

 

Great, thanks.

Back when they first started you could simply add your rego to an existing
tag account. I never took the tag becuase they take the photo and
automatically deduct the $3. Then something changed and they sent a letter
out for each time so I ended up with 20 letters a month whihc I had to ring
in for.
Hopefully this systems works out. $1.50 is a fair toll IMO, it certainly
beats $4