Barrier free: some 2.5 million cars have passed through the system

MORE than 25,000 people a day have to be individually contacted and billed for using the new barrier-free tolls at the M50.


Figures obtained by the Sunday Tribune show 25-30% of people using the controversial motorway bridge have not paid their toll in advance.


It still is not clear how many people are planning to evade the toll or refuse payment. The National Toll Roads agency said it was too early to tell.


Already, 2.5 million cars have passed through the bridge and the barrier-free system is handling about 100,000 vehicles a day.


Around 35,000 of those have been pre-registered and are using electronic tags while another 40,000 have been registered to pay by arrangement.


The remaining vehicles and drivers have made no plans to pay the National Roads Authority (NRA) for using the Westlink Bridge and each has to be contacted by post.


The NRA also said teething problems with the new system were being addressed and the number of "false positives" was on the decline.


Hundreds of motorists, particularly those using the Easypass tag, have been billed after the electronic reading equipment failed to read their pass.


Furious road users inundated the helplines set up by the NRA, with some forced to wait up to half an hour to have their complaint heard.


"Considering the magnitude of this project, it has gone OK; it is not great. We would be unhappy with the performance levels in some areas and we are resolving those," said Seán O'Neill of the NRA. "Our priority is to have a dispute resolution mechanism for people and that this can be done quickly and painlessly."


Sources said the call centre was overwhelmed after 40 staff left just as the barrier-free system was put in place.


One source said: "These were people who said they were planning to stay in the job permanently but then went back to school or whatever it was they were doing. Additional staff have been added now."


Human error was also responsible for mix-ups, it is thought, whereby people incorrectly entered licence numbers online or put their tags in the wrong place.