Motorists in the world’s most tolled city are breathing a sigh of relief with a popular rebate scheme being permanently extended.
Hundreds of thousands of drivers had been claiming about $8 million a month in rebates under NSW Labor’s $60 weekly toll “cap” scheme.
But as the two-year scheme’s end date of December 31 approached, the state government on Tuesday confirmed it would continue indefinitely.
The scheme helps ease household budget pressures, particularly in western Sydney whose drivers bear the brunt of Sydney’s network of tollways.
“We want the toll cap to stay permanently. We want privatisation never to come back again when it comes to our roads,” Treasurer Daniel Mookhey told reporters on Tuesday.
The government said it might reconsider reinstating two-way tolling on the Harbour Bridge or the Harbour Tunnel to keep funding the rebate scheme’s $200 million annual budget.
“Most people would think it’s pretty reasonable and it’s pretty fair,” Mr Mookhey said.
But the opposition pounced, declaring it the breaking of a 2023 election promise of no new tolls
“Labor had a choice to cut waste or new tolls – they chose new tolls and more broken promises,” Liberal leader Mark Speakman said.
The bridge remains a state-owned asset where after years of no increases, tolls start at $2.76.
That pales in comparison to privately-owned motorways such as the M4 where it costs about $12 from the city to the second CBD of Parramatta.
NSW officials have been locked in talks with Transurban, which operates all 10 privately-owned toll roads in Sydney, for a network-wide system of pricing to replace the existing piecemeal scheme.
The city’s remaining three toll roads are government-owned.
Transurban has nearly $13 billion worth of projects opening in the next 12 months, including one to widen the M7 motorway in Western Sydney and connect it to the M12 and the future Western Sydney Airport.
The longest existing contract for Sydney’s network of 13 toll roads extends to 2060.
The average Sydney driver spends more than $82 per week on toll charges, according to the Australian Automobile Association.
The toll cap dished out $140 million in its first 18 months, though tens of millions more dollars have gone unclaimed.
There were 115 suburbs where the average claim was $300 or above, including Parramatta, Lidcombe, Schofields, Westmead, Toongabbie, Merrylands and Auburn.
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