The biggest cluster of motorists eligible for toll relief is in Sydney’s north-west,near the M7 and M2 motorways,NSW government figures show.
The Lighthorse Interchange in Sydney’s western suburbs. Sydney road users paid more than $2 billion in tolls during 2020-21.Louie Douvis
The Kellyville-Rouse Hill-Beaumont Hills postcode area topped the list based on toll use with 6626 eligible motorists last financial year,and 5410 actually claiming the relief. The next highest was the adjacent neighbourhood of Winston Hills-Baulkham Hills-Bella Vista with 6226 eligible and 5043 claimants.
Some of Sydney’s lowest-income suburbs were among areas with the most eligible motorists including Bidwill and Willmot in the Mount Druitt district.
Eight of the 20 postcodes are located in marginal western Sydney electorates that could be crucial to the result of next year’s state election including Penrith,Winston Hills and Leppington.
More than even though the city only has a fifth of the national population and toll charges have emerged as a political friction point amid growing concern about cost-of-living pressures. Financial results published by tollway operators indicate Sydney road users paid more than $2 billion in tolls during 2020-21.
Under the relief scheme,,drivers with a privately owned car spending more than $1462 a year on tolls are eligible for free vehicle registration (around $360 for a medium-sized car) while those spending $877 to $1462 a year are entitled to half-price registration. This is separate from the.
NSW government data provided to Labor in answer to parliamentary questions reveal which Sydney postcodes had the most drivers eligible for toll relief in 2020-21. Western Sydney accounted for 85 per cent of the top 20 postcodes underscoring the high share of tollway charges paid by households in that region.
Minister for Metropolitan Roads,Natalie Ward,said $70 million was paid to around 200,000 drivers under the toll relief scheme last financial year.
“Motorists who use toll roads continue to benefit every day by having their travel times slashed and a more reliable trip,” she said.
The government is “currently exploring options” for further road toll pricing relief,Ms Ward said.
But Labor’s Shadow Minister for Roads,John Graham,said people in Sydney’s highest toll-paying suburbs were suffering a “triple” penalty.
“They live further from good jobs in the CBD or Parramatta,they have less access to public transport and they pay tolls,” he said. “The costs of going to work,of getting the kids to school or going to medical appointments are high and rising. We are simply saying for ordinary people,this is too much.”
Even after receiving the government’s toll relief,many households are paying thousands of dollars a year in road tolls. A 2020 in each Sydney local government area identified seven councils where the highest 10 per cent of toll-paying households forked out,on average,more than $6000 a year for tolls.
That analysis,by consultancy Accenture and credit bureau illion,also drew attention to the disproportionate share of road tolls paid by motorists in western Sydney. It found households in the city’s south-west were paying more than double the amount in tolls each year than those in inner-metropolitan areas. At the time,report author and economist Andrew Charlton warned western Sydney’s toll burden was contributing to “growing inequities” across the city.
In some postcode areas,up to one-third of motorists entitled to free or half-price registration based on their driving patterns have not registered for assistance. In five of the top 20 postcodes for toll relief,more than 1000 entitled drivers were not receiving the benefit. The largest number was in the Wentworthville-Westmead-Greystanes neighbourhood (postcode 2145) where more than 1225 eligible drivers were receiving no relief.
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