News / clifton suspension bridge
Suspension Bridge tolls to go cashless
Throwing loose change into the coin baskets at either end of the Clifton Suspension Bridge will soon be a thing of the past.
The toll will remain at £1 from July 2023 and will be able to be paid by debit or credit card, bridge card, or by Samsung, Google or Apple Pay; just not cash.
Toll payments are the sole source of income used to maintain the bridge in perpetuity, with human toll collectors replaced by automated machines in 1975.
is needed now More than ever
Reasons given for the change to card-only include a reduction in cash payments, with only just more than ten per cent of bridge users paying by cash in 2022.
The end of the current tolling contract, reduced support for the maintenance of the coin baskets and the phasing out of coin sorters has also led to the decision to go card-only according to bridge bosses.
Bridge master Trish Johnson said: “Bridge users are increasingly preferring to pay by card. It’s quicker for the driver, and if using a bridge card, saves them money.
“The change to card-only will also make our processes more efficient by removing cash and reducing the amount of downtime for maintenance of what is now outdated machinery.”
If drivers are unable to pay by card, a bridge card can be purchased online which can be topped up both online and by phone.
Main photo: Clifton Suspension Bridge Trust
Read next:
- ‘I visited the Suspension Bridge for the first time having lived in Bristol my whole life’
- Suspension Bridge’s new toll houses open for business
- Unique landscape of Avon Gorge celebrated in new mural
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