News release
23 October 2019
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.
The newly-released figures – which cover July – September 2019 – show:
- 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 format has been updated to provide additional information for customers, improve transparency and present clear, concise data. It can be viewed at www.merseyflow.co.uk/stats