Traffic on Forth Road Bridge up by 2%

Published on Wednesday 11 February 2009 00:05

TRAFFIC on the Forth Road Bridge has increased by 2 per cent since tolls were abolished a year ago, officials have said.

The figures compiled by the Forth Estuary Transport Authority (Feta) suggest some 40,000 extra vehicles a month have used the bridge since the charges were removed by the SNP Government last February.

This appears to allay fears that the scrapping of the tolls, which included 1 for cars, would generate a large increase in traffic.

However, officials have been able to make comparisons with the previous year for only four months because of roadworks and problems with traffic counting equipment.

The figures show the number of northbound vehicles – which were previously tolled – in March, June, August and December increased by a combined total of nearly 80,000 to almost 4.2 million compared to 2007.