News release
13 October 2022
Journey levels up and PCNs down year on year as five-year anniversary approaches for Mersey Gateway Bridge
Journey levels are up and PCN levels are down on the two toll bridges that cross the River Mersey in Halton as we reach the fifth anniversary of the opening of the Mersey Gateway Bridge.
Quarterly journey numbers for the summer 2022 period were up by 280,000 compared to 2021, while PCN numbers fell by 7,000.
Over 105 million crossings have now been made across the Mersey Gateway Bridge since it opened almost exactly five years ago (at midnight on Saturday 14th October 2017), with a further 5 million plus made across the Silver Jubilee Bridge since it re-opened in early 2021.
The newly released quarterly figures from merseyflow include trips made across both the Mersey Gateway Bridge and the Silver Jubilee Bridge, both of which are covered by the same merseyflow toll/charging system. They cover July – September 2022, and show:
- In the last three months (July – September) 6,180,000 vehicles crossed the river in Halton, with around 85% of all traffic using the Mersey Gateway Bridge and the remaining 15% using the Silver Jubilee Bridge, which was re-modelled and prioritised for local traffic.
- This summer’s average of 74,000 vehicles crossing the river each weekday in Halton is one of the highest figures since the bridge opened.
- Both bridges see traffic volumes increase – the average daily number of vehicles crossing each bridge grew by about 1,000 a day compared to the previous quarter.
- Over 97.3% of journeys were paid for on time – the vast majority of people are paying for their journeys by midnight the day after they cross.
Mike Bennett, Managing Director of the Mersey Gateway Crossings Board, said: “It's remarkable to think it’s now five years since the Mersey Gateway Bridge opened. With two bridges now crossing the river, a key thing which lots of people who used to have to cram on to the old Silver Jubilee Bridge will remember, is that those journeys are much quicker, easier, and more reliable than they were in the past. We know that people value that time saving and reliability.”
Neil Conway, Chief Executive of merseyflow, said: “When we look at the year-on-year figures it’s very pleasing to see traffic numbers increasing whilst at the same time the number of PCNs generated has fallen. This means that more and more customers are making use of things like our discounts and auto pay systems for registered customers or our quick pay app for occasional bridge users.”
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, methods of payment, payments made on time, total revenue, and what percentage of this comes from PCNs.
To view the full dashboard statistics, click here