Northern Gateway - motorbikes to pay $2 like a car

[Maha]

it might have been covered but where does the camera aim?
is it in the middle so if we ride on the line it can't read the plate?
Just asking this as there are lines and hatches in the middle of the lanes i guess to pick up cars.

I think the system is a little more sophisticated than that.
I needed to use it one day in the work van. I asked Anne to call the 0800 number and pay, when she rang they said to her ''yes that vehicle has just gone through''
Dodging the camera wont be an option I wouldn't have thought.

[bogan]

If you had a t shirt on [big one] over your bike gear and it had loads of plate font numbers on it, would the machine be fooled into confusion or is the plate reading software really fuckin good?

cud work, though any programmer with common sense would shunt images that cannot be identified to a human operator, in which case you're fucked.

fact is a biker does get the same benefit as a car or truck or whatever using the road. They're not charging for wear and tear they're charging to cover the construction costs.

So how much would the construction cost have been if the road was built only to withstand 300kg (bikes) vehicles instead of 2000kg (cars), or 40,000kg (trucks)?

[swbarnett]

It's pretty standard to charge commercial users a higher rate for most things.

Good point. I hadn't considered that.

But realistically I just don't see how we're entitled to a free ride on this one.

I don't really care either way. Not just because I seldom use it but I never did understand why we should use it for free in the first place.

[davereid]

I never did understand why we should use it for free in the first place.

We don't contribute to congestion, in fact we are part of the solution.

If we didn't cause the problem, why should we pay for the solution ?

[MarkH]

It's pretty standard to charge commercial users a higher rate for most things. But realistically I just don't see how we're entitled to a free ride on this one. Also like has been said already over and over, just take the nicer back way or man up and pay your two dollars.

Except that they charge nothing for being a commercial user - any taxi or courier car or van will just pay $2 and a private user in a truck (like a horse float for example) will pay $4.
I agree that we are not entitled to a free ride and I wouldn't be complaining if we were being asked to pay $1 to use the road (not that I wouldn't generally go the more fun route most of the time anyway). There is nothing unfair about $4 for trucks, $2 for cars and $1 for motorcycles.

To be honest I had thought that right from the start it had been decided that $1 was fair for bikes, but admin costs made it not really worth collecting that so they let us use the road for free. But they claim that it costs them 14c for someone to pay by web so a return trip of $1 each way is $2 minus 14c for cost of making the payment equals $1.86 towards the cost of the road.

As a protest I avoided the toll road on Thursday night & Friday night last week while in a car - that is $4 less to the jerk-offs!

[swbarnett]

We don't contribute to congestion, in fact we are part of the solution.

If we didn't cause the problem, why should we pay for the solution ?

Indeed - another good point.

[MarkH]

So how much would the construction cost have been if the road was built only to withstand 300kg (bikes) vehicles instead of 2000kg (cars), or 40,000kg (trucks)?

I would suggest $0.00 - if only bikes went that direction there would have been no reason to do anything at all, there is nothing wrong with the other route. The number of bikes using the route isn't enough to pay for a tunnel so small that it would only be usable by a small child crawling through, so only for bikes it wouldn't be worth building a tunnel at all.

The only real problem with the old route was the slower vehicles using it (like logging trucks) that held up all other motorists. Motorcyclists are benefiting from the toll road even when going the old way.

[Ixion]

We got quite a favourbale press mention in the Harold. The article was headlined about decreasing the speed limit over the Brynderwyns (don't get me started, just don't), but we got half the space. The protest rally on the 27th is about ACC though not toll roads. Though , who knows. There are definately going to be some surprises on the 27th

In other motoring news, motorcyclists are furious the Transport Agency intends ending free rides and charging them $2 to use the Northern Gateway toll road on SH1 between Orewa and Puhoi from June 1.

Although the agency insists it is only fair to charge them the same toll as car owners, the Biker Rights Organisation of New Zealand says motorcycles cause far less wear and tear on roads.
"Here we have one Government department [the Transport Agency] saying motorcyclists should be treated just the same as cars, and another Government department - ACC - saying motorcycles are different to cars and should be treated differently," said Biker Rights Auckland president Les Mason.

He was referring to higher proposed increases in accident compensation levies for motorcyclists, who he said plan a large protest rally in central Auckland on June 27.

Mr Mason predicted that most recreational motorcyclists would opt for the alternative free coastal route between Orewa and Puhoi, but said the agency could face problems collecting arrears from commuters who might keep riding on the toll road while refusing to pay up.

The agency says it collects tolls to repay a 35-year loan of $159 million towards construction of the $356 million road, rather than to cover maintenance costs, and motorcyclists enjoy the same time savings as car drivers.

Mr Mason denied that, saying the coastal route was faster for motorcycles and savings offered by the toll road were cancelled out by the time it took to pay, including removing protective gloves and helmets at collection stations.

[Dutchee]

What I don't understand is, I got a letter a couple/few weeks back saying I'd have to start paying fees for the road from June 1.
It was only addressed to me. I expected a second letter to turn up for my husband. It hasn't.
Now, if they've got a programme to ignore the 2nd person at the same address, why not merge the names.
If they had someone sit and go through the list, they'd have been better off sending out the 2nd letter.
I've only once used the road on my own (it's usually when a few of us are going for a ride), and I really hate it. I last rode it to see if I hated it and to get to my parents' place quicker, but won't be going that way again.