The number of vehicles using the tunnels are now at record levels, with July 2022 being the busiest month in our 55-year history.
Just under 1.6 million vehicles (1,594,658) passed through the tunnels last month. We also recorded our busiest ever ‘normal day’ (i.e. a weekday, during term-time) when over 62,500 vehicles travelled through the tunnels on 15th July.
Our CEO Philip Smith, says: “The fact that traffic levels have remained broadly the same on other regional road hotspots, yet the Tyne Tunnels traffic is rising, is testament to the success of the switch to open-road-tolling. The tunnels have become more popular because journeys are quicker, smoother and the expanded range of payment options has increased convenience for many drivers.”
Northbound journeys are 33 seconds faster and southbound trips, 29 seconds quicker – on average across a day than before the new system was introduced (June 2022 figures).
CO₂ emissions have been reduced by 90% since open-road-tolling went live. Each month, the CO₂ saving equates to around 2,640 return passenger flights from Newcastle, to New York.
The percentage of customers pre-paying for their journey has risen from 60% in June 2021 to over 77% in June this year.
The average coin payment takes 11 seconds and Pre-Paid barrier 6 seconds, and now you can drive straight through in even less time. Without the move to open road tolling, with the increased number of vehicles, queuing would have been worse, and getting worse as the traffic levels continue to increase.
We’ve been working hard this year on completing our road works which involved the removal of our toll plazas and adapting our road layout to allow for a smoother journey. Our road works are now complete and new permanent signage has been installed.