Only 1,131 Londoners, businesses and charities have applied for discounts to drive through the Silvertown and Blackwall tunnels, data released by City Hall suggests.
Low-income residents across southeast and east London are eligible for a 50 per cent discount on the charge to cross the river. Small businesses, sole traders and charities in Greenwich, Tower Hamlets and Newham are entitled to get £1 off the tunnels’ off-peak charge.
But according to data published by Sir Sadiq Khan’s office, only 904 residents and 227 businesses and charities had applied for the discounts, as of February 17. The application window for the discounts opened on January 27.
Hina Bokhari, the London Assembly’s Liberal Democrat group leader, said the “low take-up” was “very worrying”, and urged the mayor to “ensure local people are fully aware of the discounts available to them”.
The Silvertown Tunnel will open on April 7, and will link the Royal Docks with the A102 on the Greenwich Peninsula. It will cost £4 to use the tunnel at peak hours, and £1.50 at off-peak times. Between 10pm and 6am each night, it will be free to use.
The neighbouring 128-year-old Blackwall Tunnel, which is currently free to use, will have the same charges from the day that the Silvertown Tunnel opens.
Tolls have been part of the tunnel plans since they were first unveiled by Khan’s predecessor as mayor, Boris Johnson, more than a decade ago.
But a number of discounts will apply:
- Residents who live in the boroughs of Greenwich, Lewisham, Bexley, Southwark, Bromley, Tower Hamlets, Newham, Barking & Dagenham, Hackney, Havering, Redbridge, Waltham Forest and the City of London who claim eligible benefits – including universal credit, income support and carer’s allowance – can claim a 50 per cent discount.
- Some small businesses, charities and sole traders in Greenwich, Newham and Tower Hamlets only can get a £1 discount on off-peak trips.
- Blue Badge holders can use the crossings without charge.
- Vehicles with nine or more seats and roadside recovery vehicles can also be exempt.
- More details, and how to sign up, are on the TfL website at www.tfl.gov.uk/tunnel-discounts.
According to the statistics released by Khan in response to a written question from Bokhari, a total of 779 residents had applied for the discount. A further 125 people had applied without providing all of the required evidence – for example, because they may have only recently moved to the area, so may be lacking proof of address.
As of February 17, only 101 applications had been received for charity or small business discounts in Greenwich. A further 53 applications had been received from Tower Hamlets, with 73 in Newham.
It is unclear how many of the total 1,131 discount applications were successful, or how many had already been rejected.
“The low take-up of discounts is very worrying,” said Bokhari.
“The mayor doesn’t like talking about the Silvertown Tunnel, which is why we call it his ‘dirty little secret’, but his lack of openness about it means not enough Londoners know about the discounts they could apply for, or even that a toll will exist. It’s simply not good enough.
“The tunnel is an environmental and financial millstone and the mayor should be doing more to own up to the impacts it will have, and ensure local people are fully aware of discounts available to them.”
Khan claims the new tunnel will improve air quality and congestion in the area. He has said Londoners should be “incredibly proud” of it, claiming it will “transform” lives. But campaigners opposed to the project say it will in fact increase congestion, pollution and carbon emissions – and point to TfL modelling which suggested roughly 100,000 motorists a day will continue to use the Blackwall Tunnel – and 15,000 to 30,000 a day will use the new Silvertown Tunnel.
Speaking at a TfL board meeting last month, TfL’s chief customer and strategy officer Alex Williams admitted the uptake for discounts was “not as great as I’d like, so we’re looking at more communication work on that”.
In a separate written response to Bokhari, Khan said: “Messaging explaining the low- income and business discount is appearing in local press, radio, and online video, supported by a general discounts message in video on demand channels.
“In addition, over 1.5m leaflets have been delivered to residents in 13 east London boroughs, over 80,000 leaflets have been direct mailed to businesses in Greenwich, Newham and Tower Hamlets where the business discount will be available, and 35,000 leaflets have been printed for face-to-face distribution in high footfall locations such as shopping centres, markets, car parks, supermarkets and builders markets.
“Over 2.8 million emails have been sent to customers on the TfL database including local residents and businesses. Information is also available on TfL’s website.
“TfL is also working closely with its stakeholders including boroughs, assembly members, MPs and those representing low-income Londoners, businesses and disability and accessibility stakeholders, to ensure that messaging around pre-registration and the discounts available reaches as many people as possible.”
Additional reporting by Darryl Chamberlain.
Noah Vickers is the Local Democracy Reporter for City Hall, based at the London Standard. The Local Democracy Reporting Service is a BBC-funded initiative to ensure councils are covered properly in local media.
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