Toll System In Sydney Studied

Press, Volume CV, Issue 31029, 7 April 1966, Page 18

Toll System In Sydney Studied

A brief visit to Australia, where he looked at the toll system on the Sydney harbour bridge and the effects of the change-over to decimal currency, has just been completed by the manager of the Christchurch-Lyttelton Road Tunnel Authority (Mr L. H. Wilson).

Mr Wilson also studied the use of closed-circuit traffic television in central Sydney, and on his return to New Zealand he spent a week in Auckland studying the working of the Auckland harbour bridge. Speaking of the Sydney harbour bridge. Mr Wilson said toll difficulties posed by the change to decimal currency had been greatly overemphasised, and things had really gone quite smoothly. The toll system was not as good as the system in use at the Christchurch-Lyttelton tunnel, but it had been in use for 30 years and was soon to be changed. Closed-Circuit TV In central Sydney, 12 closedcircuit television cameras were placed at strategic points and relayed views of the traffic situation to a central control room. Experiments were still going on, but the system seemed to be a success and a definite aid to traffic control. In Auckland there was one

television camera on the southern approach to the harbour bridge, and it gave much earlier warning of breakdowns that could severely disrupt traffic. It was obviously of definite assistance in the smooth running of the bridge. The volume of traffic using the Christchurch-Lyttelton tunnel did not warrant the expense of television at present, but it was something which would have to be looked at from time to time. When it was required it could be used for surveillance of the Lyttelton portal area, and very much later it might even be of use in the tunnel itself. ">