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MSPs to vote to axe bridge tolls MSP backing to scrap bridge tolls
(about 19 hours later)
MSPs will vote later on whether to scrap the tolls on the Forth and Tay road bridges. Plans to scrap tolls on the Forth and Tay Road bridges have passed their first parliamentary hurdle after MSPs backed for the proposals.
But ministers have been urged to take steps to tackle any congestion which may arise when charges are expected to go early next year.
The SNP Government won support for abolition from Labour and the Liberal Democrats after the election.The SNP Government won support for abolition from Labour and the Liberal Democrats after the election.
Scrapping the tolls is expected to be agreed in principle and come into effect early next year. However, Holyrood's two Green MSPs voted against the move.
The Greens will vote against the move. Transport minister Stewart Stevenson is expected to stress other actions he is taking to reduce traffic congestion. The SNP pledged in its election manifesto that it would remove the £1 fee to use the Forth bridge and the 80p toll to cross the Tay bridge, a move that will cost the Scottish Government about £87m over the next four years.
Traffic levels Dissenting voice
The Scottish Parliament's transport committee earlier backed the move. The proposals have been set out in a government bill, which Transport Minister Stewart Stevenson said would end tolls with "transparency, certainty and crucially as soon as practicable".
However, MSPs voiced concerns about the impact on the environment and said steps should be taken to reduce the impact of increasing traffic levels. Two Liberal Democrat Edinburgh MSPs - Margaret Smith and Mike Pringle - declined to support the plans, amid the congestion concerns.
The committee said scrapping the tolls would cost the Scottish Government about £87m over the next four years. And two MSPs voted against the bill by mistakenly pressing the wrong button at voting time, Conservative MSP Margaret Mitchell - whose party supports scrapping the tolls - and Lib Dem Hugh O'Donnell.
The majority of the committee backed the move - but convener Patrick Harvie, a Green MSP, voiced his dissent. "If parliament agrees to this bill we will end an injustice to the people of Fife, Tayside and the Lothians, and to all who have had to pay tolls on these bridges when tolls have been removed elsewhere," Mr Stevenson said.
The SNP pledged in its election manifesto that it would remove the £1 fee to use the Forth bridge and the 80p toll to cross the Tay bridge. Mr Stevenson said an unchecked rise in traffic could not be encouraged, but added: "It is not the aim of the government to punish car users - and certainly not to punish Fife car users alone."
The subsequent bill was supported by all the parties, except the Greens. The Scottish Parliament's transport committee has already backed the bill, although its convener, Green MSP Patrick Harvie, voiced his dissent.
The transport minister is expected to remind parliament of his plans to invest more in the railways, the bus services and "park and ride". Ministers have already announced improvements to rail services in central Scotland and funding for bus and rail projects.
He previously welcomed the removal of tolls, saying it was unfair and unacceptable that the two road bridges into and out of Fife were the only remaining toll bridges in Scotland.