"Roland Perry" wrote in message
...
In message , at 13:09:26 on Wed, 14 Sep 2016,
Mizter T remarked:
Erm, it's not that difficult, really.

(1) Navigate oneself to...
https://www.gov.uk/pay-dartford-crossing-charge

(2) Click on "Start now" and be taken to...
https://www.dartford-crossing-charge.service.gov.uk/Home/Choose

(3) Click on "Make a one off payment" and click on "Next"

And carry on for several more screens entering various data.

Four screens by my count, with the following info requested:

(1) Enter vehicle reg number
(2) Confirm the vehicle make & model (no need to enter this, it's
taken from the DVLA database)
(3) Choose how many crossings you wish to pay for (they are valid for
up to a year)
(4) Enter and confirm email address for receipt
(5) Enter payment card details

They're not asking for anything more than the bare minimum of info
needed. It's much the same as paying the London CC charge.

I agree the London CC doesn't lend itself to contactless (leaning out of
your car on Park Lane at 40mph), but the palaver above is a monstrous
bit of cost externalisation and should never have been allowed.


The entire point of the exercise was not about cost externalisation but
improving traffic flow at the crossing - everything I've read and heard
suggests that this has essentially been successful, though 'sheer weight
of traffic' can't be solved by free flow tolling.

So I disagree with you. I do however think some aspects of the tolling
arrangements could be better, but the underlying concept of free flow
tolling at this crossing is sound. It works elsewhere just fine.

They could just as easily have implemented a hybrid scheme with a few
lanes taking payment.

Bearing in mine that there is an exit/entrance slip immediately before/after
both ends of the crossing and there are a lot of people who need to place
themselves in a particular lane to use that slip, and then there are a lot
of people who need to make sure that they are not in that lane so as not to
inadvertently get trapped into leaving the M25 when they don't want to this
would mean payment booths on both the inside and the outside of each
direction.

It would be a nightmare of weaving cars as people who wanted to/didn't want
to pay cash realised they were in the wrong lane

What's different about the Dartford Crossing is that its strategic
location means it's more likely to see people who only use it once or
twice a year.

It might be reasonable to add more alternatives to the current payment
options, but having optional cash booths on the road isn't one of them

tim