New Northern Gateway charges start tomorrow

From tomorrow, people who pay to use the Northern Gateway Toll Road by phone will have to pay an extra $3.70 per transaction and paying at the kiosks will cost an extra $0.40. Photo / Brett Phibbs

Motorists who pay to use the Northern Gateway Toll Road by phone or at the kiosks will have to fork out more money from tomorrow.

The base tolls for use of the road north of Auckland remain the same - $2 per trip for light vehicles and $4 for heavy vehicles - but people who make payment over the phone will have to pay an extra $3.70 per transaction and paying at the kiosks will cost an extra $0.40.

No extra charges have been imposed for web payments or pre-paid account payments.

Charges for late payments will also increase tomorrow from $2.20 to $4.90.

New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA) Auckland and Northland director Stephen Town said the new administration charges were part of a broader effort to reduce the cost of processing toll payments.

The cost to the NZTA of processing kiosk payments was 54c per transaction and $3.85 for telephone payments, he said.

Since the NZTA announced the new charges at the beginning of July more than 1000 additional pre-paid accounts had been opened.

The 7.5 kilometre road, which extends Auckland's Northern Motorway up to Puhoi, is New Zealand's first fully electronic toll road. It came at a cost of $365 million.

- NZPA