Latest Mersey Gateway statistics show highest ever on-time journey payment rate and annual 18.5% drop in PCN charges
The
latest Mersey Gateway figures show a 18.5% drop in the number of Penalty Charge
Notices (PCNs) issued compared to the same period in 2018.
They also show the highest ever payment on time rate and record traffic levels using the Mersey Gateway Bridge between Runcorn and Widnes.
- An 18.5% reduction in the number of PCNs
issued
compared to the same period last year (meaning 38,096 fewer PCNs were issued) - Journey numbers increasing by 3% compared to the same period
last year up to a record high of 6.25 million journeys. - 97.3% of journeys were paid for on time
(either through their account or by midnight the day after crossing) – this is the highest ever
rate - July was the highest ever month (2.14 million
crossings) for journeys made across the bridge
The
number of PCNs issued between July and September 2019 has fallen by 38,096
compared to the figure from the same period last year. This is an 18.5%
year-on-year drop in the number of PCNs issued, which means that more people
are paying on time for their crossing.
This
comes at a time when traffic levels using the bridge are at their highest ever
recorded, with 6.25 million journeys being made across the River Mersey in
Halton during the July – September 2019 period.
Neil
Conway, Chief Executive of merseyflow, said: “This has been our best ever
quarter. I am delighted to see the significant reduction in PCNs and an
all-time high in journeys paid for on time, particularly when the quarter recorded
the highest number of crossings made across the bridge.
He
added: “These statistics show that we are achieving our key objectives,
improving the pay on time rates for the users of the bridge, and as a
consequence of that reducing the number of Penalty Charge Notices issued. The
work we do to encourage people to register with us and pay on time is working,
and we will continue to look at new ways to make it quicker and easier for users
of the bridge to either register with us, or to pay their charge on time, as we
want to see the trend of reducing PCN numbers and increasing traffic levels
continue.”
Mike
Bennett, Managing Director of the Mersey Gateway Crossings Board, said: “It’s
great to see more people using the Mersey Gateway Bridge and less people
getting PCNs. We would much rather everyone paid on time or registered with
merseyflow. In an ideal world, we don’t want to issue any PCNs, so it is very
positive to see this 18.5% year-on-year reduction.”
He
added: “We’re now two years on from the bridge opening, so the ongoing increase
in traffic levels shows people are benefitting from quicker, easier and more
reliable journeys across the river. We know how important this reliability and
access is to residents, commuters and the business community, so our focus is
on maintaining that and improving the service wherever we can.”
The quarterly merseyflow dashboard provides a range of in-depth statistics and graphs which show information on the number of crossings made, average daily traffic, number of PCNs issued, payments made on time, total revenue and what percentage of this comes from PCNs.
The dashboard can be viewed at www.merseyflow.co.uk/stats
