The Irish Road Haulage Association (IRHA) has stated that over €26 million of diesel is being wasted in Ireland annually by trucks stopping at toll booths, which also generates almost 45 thousand tonnes of carbon every year. These figures were provided by Transport Infrastructure Ireland
The National body for road hauliers is offering the government a quick and easy way to reduce CO2 emissions and stop wasting diesel at a time when government is desperately clambering to hit 2030 climate targets and avoid billions of euros in EU fines.
The Irish Road Haulage Association say that barriers at toll booths are wasting diesel, creating serious emissions, ensuring traffic congestion, air pollution and are costing rural Ireland’s economy millions in lost competitiveness. In many cases, Haulage companies are instructing their drivers to avoid toll booths altogether which is further putting pressure on traffic in urban areas.
The high cost of wasted diesel at toll booths is on top of the over €100,000 that the Haulage industry is paying in toll fees every single day.
Ger Hyland, President of the IRHA, has called for our toll booths to be made barrier free for HGVs within 12 months.
According to Mr. Hyland, Transport Infrastructure Ireland are ignoring the low hanging fruit when it comes to cutting transport emissions: “Our industry can cut 45,000 tonnes of carbon emissions annually in the morning. All we have to do is remove physical barriers from tool booths or allow HGVs to use the express lane. Every time a large HGV stops and starts at a toll barrier, it burns up to two litres of diesel. That is the equivalent of burning up to 5.08 kilos of CO2. Over 24,264 HGVs pass through our tolls every single day, meaning that we are needlessly generating 28,861 kilos of CO2 daily just by having barriers in place at our tool booths. These figures don’t even include the East Link Toll bridge in Dublin! Why Transport Infrastructure Ireland are not interested in reducing emissions, we are not yet sure!”
Ger Hyland cited research which shows that exhaust from a running vehicles stuck in slow moving traffic contains nіtrоgеn оxіdеѕ (NOx), vоlаtіlе оrgаnіс соmроundѕ, particulate mаttеr, саrbоn mоnоxіdе аnd саrbоn dіоxіde. All of these are released into the atmosphere in excessive amounts when a vehicle is idling waiting to pay at toll booths. These substances are not only detrimental to the environment but also linked to asthma and other lung diseases. The Royal College of Physicians in the UK estimate 40,000 deaths a year in the UK are linked to air pollution, with emissions from engine idling contributing to this.
“This is also a health and safety issue for the employees sitting collecting tolls every day. They are breathing in toxic air. A 2018 EPA report found the entrance and exit to Dublin’s Port Tunnel to be above EU permitted air quality values”
He also pointed to the cost impact that forcing HGVs to stop at tolling booths is having on the industry: “Toll barriers are costing our industry over €26 million in wasted diesel every single year. We are demanding that barrier free tolls across Ireland be introduced within 12 months. There are currently 12 tolling booths in Ireland, and only the M50 toll is currently barrier free. At the very least, HGVs should be allowed to use the express lanes to pass through tolls without stopping – which they are currently not allowed to do”
Serious traffic congestion
The Road Haulage Association has said that motorists are continually stuck in long tail back queues of drivers waiting to pay tolls during rush hour traffic. They pointed to tolls such as that on the M1 Motorway as a particular flashpoint for long traffic queues at peak times. They say that barrier free tolling will cut down congestion, reduce carbon emissions and will speed up journey times for all.
“This is also a health and safety issue for the employees sitting collecting tolls every day. They are breathing in toxic air. A 2018 EPA report found the entrance and exit to Dublin’s Port Tunnel to be above EU permitted air quality values”
Ger also pointed to the cost impact that forcing HGVs to stop at tolling booths is having on the industry: “All we want is a strong, sustainable, and competitive industry. We cannot have that when our drivers are stuck in tail backs burning excess amounts of diesel waiting to pay tolls when we could be using barrier free tolls to keep traffic moving. Every summer, our toll bridges cause chaos on our motorway system on big match days, in particular when two teams from the South are playing in Croke Park. It is hurting our economy, wasting millions of litres of diesel and making us a less efficient place to do business”
Haulage operators cannot rule out rolling protests at toll booths in the coming months because their industry feels like it is being ignored: “We facilitate 98% of all imports and exports into and out of Ireland. Some operators are paying over €20,000 per month in tolls, which is unsustainable. Now we have additional costs because Transport Infrastructure Ireland are insisting that every HGV stop and queue to pay their tolls. Our members are going out of business at a rate of one a week. If we keep going at this rate, the country’s economy will grind to a halt. We have a simple ask in this case. Removing barriers will reduce climate emissions, reduce our cost base, stop wasting precious fuel and reduce congestion at toll booths at peak times. It is a no brainer!”