Next year’s planned increase in tolls means that commuters will be “charged more for being stuck in the car park that is the M50”. 

Transport Infrastructure Ireland has confirmed that tolls will increase on 1st January for those who use the M50 and Dublin’s Port Tunnel. 

On Lunchtime Live, motoring expert Ger Herbert said TII is “aligning the tolls in line with the inflation rate”, adding that there have been so many toll increases in recent years that drivers have “almost got used to it”. 

“Essentially, nearly all of them are going up this time,” Ms Herbert explained. 

“The M50, all categories of vehicles will see an increase, right; so, for people who are registered car users,they would see an increase of 10 cent. 

“Those who are unregistered car users, these are people who don't have any tags or anything like that, they'll see an increase of 20 cent. 

“And the Dublin Port Tunnel southbound would see an increase of €1, so it's going to €15 for peak times.”

Ms Herbert described this as a “quite a substantial rise”. 

“If you don't have a tag, you're talking about €4,” she said. 

“Most people will make a return trip, so that's a lot of money. 

“It's amazing how these 10 cents over the last six years or the last six increases or whatever, they really do add up.”

Commuter view

Also on the programme, Dublin resident Nicky, who commutes between Citywest and Blanchardstown, said the toll increase means the country’s motorways will become even poorer value. 

“The M50 has become much of a car park,” she complained. 

“In reality, we're being charged more for being stuck in the car park that is the M50. 

“I would be quite irritated about this; it feels as if we're being milked within an inch of our lives and there's absolutely, there's no correspondence, there's no communication.”

Nicky added that the cost of her commute will not increase “that much”, but that she already feels like she is paying enough. 

“I mean, I'm already paying approximately €30 a week just to get to work in tolls,” she said. 

Main image: M50 tolls. Picture by: Mark Stedman/RollingNews.ie