5 days to start of M50 Barrier- Free Tolling! NRA Announces Arrangements for Tag Distribution And Mounting
There are only 5 days to go before the commencement of barrier-free tolling on the M50!! At a minute past midnight on Friday night/Saturday morning next (30th August) the toll collection at the existing West-link toll plaza will cease and the new electronic barrier-free system will be switched on.
The distribution of the eFlow tags for barrier-free tolling on the M50 commences today, (Monday, 25th August 2008). Customers who have registered for the eFlow tag option should expect their tag to arrive over the coming days, in time for the 30th August ‘Go Live’ date. Tag registered customers are advised to activate their eFlow tag before use. This can be done by visiting the website or by calling the customer care centre (www.eflow.ie or 1890 50 10 50).
eFlow is committed to promoting the effective use of tags and therefore requests that tag registered customers pay particular attention to the mounting instructions accompanying their eFlow tag. It is important that the tag is permanently installed in the correct position on the windscreen of the vehicle to ensure that it is detected by the Barrier-Free Tolling system.
For cars, the tag must be installed inside the vehicle at the top centre of the windscreen behind the rear view mirror. Where the vehicle has an “athermic” windscreen the tag must be fitted in the area indicated by black dots. (These types of windscreens are fitted to many modern cars and have a metallic compound in the glass which reflects UV rays from the sun to keep the car cooler in hot weather. This metallic compound also blocks electronic devices such as toll tags and satellite navigation units, which is why all such windscreens are made with a special area for mounting such equipment, which is manufactured without the metallic compound, and which is marked by speckled black dots).
For trucks the tag should be mounted at the bottom of the windscreen in the centre of the vehicle.
For anyone who already has a tag from another supplier it is important that they check that they have mounted it correctly – centre top of windscreen for cars and centre bottom of windscreen for trucks. Many existing tags may have been incorrectly installed or even sometimes hand held and still functioned correctly on the existing plazas due to the low speed operating environment of those plazas. But without being properly installed they will not function correctly in the high speed M50 barrier-free situation. If users of existing tags are in any doubt about the proper mounting arrangements for their existing tag or require a tag holder, they should contact their supplier as soon as possible.
By far the cheapest and easiest way to pay the M50 toll is to register for an electronic tag. Registrations have reflected this as the most recent figures indicate that almost three quarters of the 70,000 plus vehicles registered with eFlow have selected the tag option, with the remainder registering for the number plate option. At present eFlow are offering a free tag option; it can be set up on a “post-pay” basis (you pay for your toll journeys at the end of each month); there is no up-front charge to set up an account; an account administration fee of €1 per month applies; the tag is usable on all toll plazas in Ireland. So registering now for an eFlow tag using the “post-pay” option means the tag is issued free and no payment is made until the end of your first month’s journeys when you pay just for the journeys made plus the €1 account fee.
Motorists who do not wish to avail of the tag option can register for a video account or pay as you go with eFlow – www.eflow.ie or LoCall 1890 50 10 50.
Ends
For Further Information Contact:
Sheila Flanagan, NRA: 01 6658703
Caroline O’Brien, NRA: 01 6658770