By Dan Silkstone Transport reporter The Age
May 12, 2005
Citylink is about to end the free ride for Victorian motorcyclists by switching on new cameras that will make them pay tolls for the first time.
Motorbike riders have not paid tolls since CityLink opened in 1999 because the number plate recognition cameras used by the toll road's operator, Transurban, take only front-on snapshots. Motorcycles do not have front number plates and cannot be fitted with e-tags.
But new rear-view cameras recently installed along the toll road will allow Transurban to identify motorcycle number plates and realise its long-held goal of recovering tolls from motorcyclists.
CityLink spokeswoman Jane Calvert said yesterday a decision on tolling motorcyclists would not be made until testing showed the technology was reliable and efficient.
If motorbike tolls are charged, they will be half those paid by car drivers.
Yesterday's news drew a furious reaction from the Motorcycle Riders Association of Australia, whose president, Dale Maggs, threatened protest action if the change went ahead. "Economically and environmentally, motorcycles are a lot friendlier to Melbourne," Mr Maggs said. "We don't degrade the road like cars and trucks do.
"They want to charge us half, but motorcycles weigh only a fifth of what a car does."
Rear-view cameras have been installed at all 17 tolling points along CityLink and will soon be working to identify car traffic. But testing of motorcycle number plate recognition will continue.
Ms Calvert said that once a decision was made, motorcyclists would be given four months' grace to get used to the change.
"CityLink is a user-pays system and therefore it is only fair that all those who use the toll road should pay for that usage," she said.
"But up until now we haven't had a system that's enabled us to toll motorbikes with the required degree of accuracy and efficiency."
Mr Maggs said CityLink was breaching a verbal assurance given to motorcyclists in 2003 not to toll motorbikes for at least five years. He said the agreement was made after hundreds of motorcyclists clogged the Burnley tunnel, protesting against State Government moves to introduce front number plates.
He said that more protests could follow if Transurban did not change its policy. "We'll talk if they want to negotiate but if it turns out unsatisfactory to us then we'll make sure that they know we are here," he said.
The new cameras will also improve CityLink's ability to identify car drivers - allowing the road operator to consult a rear-view photograph when the front-on shot is unclear. Some drivers escape being charged because of unclear photographic evidence.
The "video matching fee" charged in cases where cameras are used to charge tolls rather than e-tags will also be reviewed after the new cameras are switched on and could rise from its current level of $1.20.
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guess it was inevitable...given Transurbans role in life
is to make as much money as possible ...call it greed if you like
andi - 
