News release
19 July 2023
Record number of journeys recorded over the River Mersey in Halton
New figures released by merseyflow show that residents, commuters, and visitors made a record 6.35 million journeys across the River Mersey in Halton from April-June 2023, the highest number of journeys recorded since the Mersey Gateway Bridge opened in October 2017.
The number of registered customers choosing the convenience of merseyflow’s auto top-up system to pay for their crossings by Direct Debit is on the rise, with almost 120,000 registered customers choosing this easier method this spring.
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 April – June 2023, and show that:
- Record number of crossings made over the River Mersey in Halton – a total of 6.35 million journeys recorded across both bridges between April-June 2023, the highest quarterly figure since the Mersey Gateway Bridge opened.
- May and June 2023 were the busiest months for the Mersey Gateway Bridge in over three years – with over 1,980,000 journeys made across the bridge in each month, the highest since November 2019
- More registered customers are using the auto top-up system – whilst it accounts for just 10% of payment transactions, it was used to pay for more journeys than ever before as customers find it easy to use
- App use for journey payments is still on the rise – over 132,000 transactions were made by customers using the merseyflow QuickPay App in June 2023, the highest number recorded to date.
- Over 97% 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 fantastic to see so many people using the bridges, taking advantage of the time savings offered compared to the old system for crossing the river in Halton.
“With the Silver Jubilee Bridge re-opening fully from 7th July, we’re expecting traffic levels to return to normal, with a larger proportion of customers being able to travel across the Silver Jubilee Bridge in coming months. However, journey numbers as a whole are increasing and it’s reassuring to see the vast majority paying for their crossings on time.”
Neil Conway, Chief Executive of merseyflow, said: “It’s good to see more registered customers are choosing our easy auto top-up system pay for their crossings by Direct Debit and minimise the risk of receiving a PCN.
“Registering with merseyflow is the easiest way to pay for your journeys and the only way to get a discount on your crossings. However, those customers who choose not to register can still pay up to midnight the day after they cross the bridges, using our QuickPay app, the merseyflow website, Contact Centre, Walk-In Centre, or local PayZone outlet.”
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.