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The Severn TAG was a payment system for collecting bridge tolls for drivers using either the Severn Bridge Crossing or the Second Severn Crossing over the Severn Estuary between England and Wales.
The system was made by Amtech but was replaced in 2008 by a new system made by CS Eng. To use the system, drivers must place the Tag transponder on their windscreen to identify their vehicle as they drive through the toll lane. Lanes through the toll booths are dedicated as either Tag (unstaffed), cash (staffed) or automatic debit/credit card only.
There are three types of Severn TAG [1]
All types of Tag require a £30 Deposit. If the tag is lost or stolen, a replacement is issued after payment of another £30 deposit.
The Season TAG could only be used with one registered vehicle, this prevented misuse, however it complicated matters for two car families, users who regularly changed vehicles or those who have courtesy vehicles etc. This was judged a misuse which can result in a Severn River Crossing "Fine" of £25+VAT. [3]
The tags regularly became faulty, and the user could not tell if the tag was faulty until they reached the lane. [4] Whereupon the reader would issue the message "Tag Error" the barrier remains closed and the lane is then blocked. At the Second Severn Crossing with a dedicated "high speed" Tag lane, this could cause a large queue to build up quickly, whilst an attendant would have been called to deal with the faulty tag.
Until January 2016, it was not possible to add funds into a Trip Tag account online, or with a credit or debit card, although it ultimately became possible to top up a Trip Tag balance online, [5] though Trip Tags could not be set to top up automatically when the account balance fell below a set threshold ("auto top-up" as is possible with e.g. the Oyster card and similar electronic tags used on the M6 Toll [6] and Dartford Crossing [7] ).
In July 2017 it was announced that all tolls on the bridge would be abolished, [8] As announced on 2 October 2018, tolls were scrapped on 17 December 2018. [9]
The Dartford-Thurrock River Crossing, commonly known as the Dartford Crossing and until 1991 the Dartford Tunnel, is a major road crossing of the River Thames in England, carrying the A282 road between Dartford in Kent in the south and Thurrock in Essex in the north.
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The Second Severn Crossing, officially renamed the Prince of Wales Bridge since July 2018, is the M4 motorway bridge over the River Severn between England and Wales, opened in 1996 to supplement the traffic capacity of the Severn Bridge built in 1966. The bridge is operated by England's National Highways. It has a total length of 5,128 metres (16,824 ft).
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