NZTA to raise tolls on Northern Gateway Toll Road
The NZ Transport Agency says tolls on the Northern Gateway Toll Road (NGTR) on State Highway 1 north of Auckland will
increase on 1 March by 20 cents to $2.20 for cars, motorcycles and light commercial vehicles, and by 40 cents to $4.40
for heavy commercial vehicles.
The increases are the first since the toll road opened three years ago.
The NZTA’s Regional Director for Auckland and Northland, Stephen Town, says the increases are regrettable but necessary
to ensure the toll road remains viable and on-track to repay its debt as planned within 35 years.
“Although the legislation covering the toll road allows for the tolls to be annually adjusted in line with increases in
the Consumer Price Index (CPI), they haven’t increased since the road opened in January 2009. Inflation and the 2010 GST
increase have both impacted on the NZTA’s ability to maintain its debt repayment level, so it has become necessary to
adjust the tolls,’ Mr Town says.
Transaction charges introduced in August 2011 to some toll payment methods will not increase. They remain at 40 cents
for payment by kiosk and $3.70 when payment is made by phone. Transaction charges apply each time one or more tolls are
paid for. For example, from 1 March the total cost of purchasing one toll trip at a kiosk will be $2.60 - a $2.20 toll
plus a 40c administration charge – and the total cost of purchasing 10 trips at a kiosk will be $22.40 - $22 for the ten
trips plus a 40c administration fee.
There is no administration fee for tolls paid on-line at www.tollroad.govt.nz, or for ‘set and forget’ toll accounts.
‘To minimise cost and time for road users, we encourage customers to pay by toll pre-pay account or via the website as
neither of those payment options attract extra cost,’ says Mr Town.
The toll road is a 7km section of SH1 between Orewa and Puhoi which provides road users a shorter, quicker option to its
free alternative – SH17 through Waiwera. Borrowing $158M of the total $372.5M construction cost, meant the NGTR was
built ten years earlier than it would have been under traditional funding methods. As at the end of December 2011, the
NZTA had repaid $17.5M of the debt.
ENDS