A number of roads, tunnels and bridges are privately financed through the provision of tolls. This is a practice that has been in place for the past 200 years, since the introduction of the Turnpikes. Whilst these have long since disappeared, some river crossings were also financed out of private funds, to which the tolls remain due to the relevant acts of parliament still being in place to this day, or due to being privately owned so are outside of Government regulation.

In addition, some newly built roads and crossings have been constructed outside of the budgets provided through general taxation, for example the Mersey Tunnels and Humber Bridge. Other projects have only been permitted to be built if private finance is used, hence road charging has been implemented as a condition of the road being built - the M6 Toll near Birmingham is the most well known of these. This policy was first conceived in the 1980s, and forms the basis of the largest road schemes in order to allow more smaller road schemes to be constructed, as otherwise the funds would not be available for these schemes to go ahead.

There are no tolls in Scotland, as these were formally abolished by law on 11 February 2008. The last remaining tolls prior to this date were on the Tay Bridge and Forth Road Bridge.

Types of tolled undertakings

There are four types of toll charge, and all charges fall into one of the categories. In the majority of cases, the prices shown are the maximum fee that is chargeable, however some operators may provide discounts for disabled people or those who buy pre-purchase tickets or use an electronic payment tag.

Non statutory tolled undertaking
These are privately-owned bridges and roads that charge for the right to cross the owner's land. These are the tolls that are based on the historical turnpikes; the operator sets prices themselves and can do so at any time as they are not regulated in any way.

Privately owned statutory tolled undertakings
There are eight small bridges that fall into this category and are tolled under Private Acts of Parliament. These are ancient bridges that have been covered by Acts since as far back as the 18th Century. They are privately owned or operated, but lie on a public highway - therefore, the tolls have to be charged at a level that meets the operating and upkeep of the undertaking (although some can make a small profit). If they wish to revise the prices, the operator has to apply to the Secretary of State for Transport - and this may involve a public inquiry.

Local authority statutory tolled undertaking
These are crossing that are owned by local authorities rather than Central Government, and include the Mersey and Tyne Tunnels and the Humber and Tamar Bridges. Generally, these were built with Government loans, and toll fees can only charged to meet the costs of the original construction plus operating and maintaining the undertaking (although in the case of the tunnels, legislation has been enabled that allows some revenue to go into other transport projects). Increases in the fees must follow the line of inflation, unless an application is made to the Secretary of State to make a higher increase.

Central Government promoted tolled undertaking
These are large undertakings that have been designed, built and financed by a private consortium under a concession agreement with the Government. The same concession also operates the undertaking. Toll fees can only be charged for a set period of time in order to cover the costs of building, operating and maintaining the undertaking. The concession ends once the costs have been met or the concession period ends, at which time the Government takes over ownership and operation of the undertaking. At present, only the Severn River Crossing (the two Severn Bridges) and the M6 Toll fall into this category.

The way in which toll fees are set varies between the two undertakings. In the case of the Severn River Crossing, increases are only allowed to be increased in line with inflation, whereas the M6 Toll's operators are free to set whatever charges they wish due to the availability of free alternatives (namely the M6 through Birmingham), so motorists can choose between the two routes.

The Dartford River Crossing was also originally in this category, but the the concession ended on 31 March 2003, as the costs of the concession were fulfilled. However, a road charging scheme was introduced on 1 April 2003 under the Transport Act of 2000 to help manage traffic at the crossing. Until 31 March 2013, fees can only be used to fund local transport initiatives.

Guide to toll charges

Here is a comprehensive list of all prices for toll roads, bridges, tunnels and congestion zones currently in force in the UK and Ireland.

	List of toll charges
	PDF document (2 Mb)