Toll income on the country's busiest road, the M50, last year surged by 23% or €32.42m to €172.4m as traffic volumes recovered from the Covid-19 pandemic impact.
The 2022 annual report by Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII) shows that the €172.4m in toll income - which includes €11.9m in penalty income - topped the pre-pandemic M50 toll income of €160m in 2019.
The report states that during 2022, traffic volumes and revenue for the M50 eFlow and Dublin Tunnel recovered to pre-Covid-19 levels
The report stated that the Annual Average Daily Traffic (AADT) for the M50 eFlow Toll in 2022 was 149,010 trips, an increase of 20% on 2021 but slightly below 2019 levels following a relatively quiet start to the year.
The report states that the M50 "is the most heavily trafficked road in the country" and states that 1.6bn km was travelled by motorists on the route last year which was a 29% increase on 2021.
The sharp rise in traffic resulted in the number of traffic collisions rising by 47% from 475 to 698.
The report states that there were 54m passages recorded on the toll road which is an increase of 20% on the 45.1m in 2021.
In terms of the costs of operating the M50 eFlow to TII, toll collection costs, bad debt charges and local authority rates for M50 eFlow last year totalled €52.94m.
The toll revenues for 2023 will be even higher after tolls were hiked from July 1st due to inflation with unregistered car owners facing a charge of €3.50 and the drivers of the heaviest unregistered articulated trucks facing a toll charge of €7.10.
The 2022 report states that the overall estimated tolling compliance rate at 97.02% last year which was improved marginally from 2021 levels (96.8%) as the new toll operator Turas overcame initial 'teething’ issues and customer satisfaction levels improved following the launch of the new tolling system in August 2021.
In the report, TII caution that "the strong rebound in traffic volumes in 2022, and in particular, freight traffic, continues to pose a strategic risk for the M50 corridor as levels of congestion increase with the rebound in traffic volumes".
The report states that Heavy Duty Vehicles (HDV) on the M50 take up as much as 33% of the available road space and…"congestion not only impacts the efficiency of the freight sector but there is also an environmental cost in terms of higher emissions from slow moving or stalled freight traffic".
The report shows that toll income on the Dublin Port Tunnel also recovered strongly, increasing by 63% from €13.9m in 2021 to €22.6m last year.
The report also reveals that "patronage on Luas red and green lines increased significantly in 2022 to 38.6 million passenger journeys, which represents an increase of 98% on 2021 levels and a decrease of 20pc on 2019 levels".
The spend by TII last year totalled €1.59bn that included €1.44bn on the road network and €113.32m on light rail and metro.
Numbers earning over €100,000 at TII last year increased from 48 to 61. The remuneration package for TII ceo, Peter Walsh last year increased from €190,000 to €202,000. Salary costs at TII last year totalled €22.47m.
Reporting by Gordon Deegan
