From the 31st August the barriers will no longer lift for eFlow customers at three Toll p[azas around the country, why is this happening and what can eflow customers do asks Geraldine Herbert
How many toll roads are there in Ireland?
There are eleven toll roads in Ireland. This includes both standard toll plazas and the barrier-free M50 toll in Dublin.
Do you need different tags for each?
No, the Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII) introduced a customer friendly toll payment system (eToll) which commenced operation nationwide on Friday 15th June, 2007.
The eToll concept is simple and convenient : “a tag from any of the authorised tag providers will operate on toll roads nationwide”.
What is happening at the end of August?
From August 31st eFlow’s tags will no longer work at toll plazas operated by the Celtic Roads Group (CRG). The following tolls roads will be affected:
• M1 (Gormanston – Monasterboice)
• M7/M8 (Portlaoise – Castletown/Portlaoise – Cullahill)
• N25 (Waterford City Bypass)
This means that eFlow customers with tag accounts will have to pay with cash at these toll plazas. Motorists with tag accounts with other tag providers (such as Easytrip, Parkmagic and DirectRoute) will not be affected plus eFlow customers with video accounts for paying the M50 toll will not be affected.
What is the dispute about?
eFlow basically provide a toll collection service for the Celtic Roads Group Toll Roads (by collecting the tolls due from the eFlow tag customer’s account when they use any of the Celtic Roads Group toll roads and then remitting it to CRG);
The agreements governing these collection services expired earlier this year and eFlow and Celtic Roads Group (CRG) have been unable to agree new collection agreements to enable the collection services to continue.
What is the advice for eflow customers who use the M1, M7/M8 and the N25 at Waterford?
eFlow is in the process of contacting all tag customers including those who use the CRG toll roads by phone, email, SMS, and letter. eFlow will also be running a broader communications plan in the national and local media (Radio, print and digital) to communicate the upcoming change and advise customers what to do.
While some communications activities have started most of the activity will commence during early August.
The advice is that it is probably best for all eflow customers who use these tolls regularly to switch to another provider before the end of august.
What choices do you have for switching?
There are a number of interoperable tag provider in Ireland today with whom motorists can open a tolling account including:
• Easytrip
• ParkMagic;
• DirectRoute
Further details are set out on the eToll website – www.eToll.ie
Is there a cost associated with switching providers? If so, how much?
No there are no costs associated with switching tag providers. But please note that all tag providers (including eFlow) charge an account management fee and oblige customers to sign ‘terms and conditions’ when opening a new account.
Geraldine Herbert
21st July, 2016
