Changes to the Toll: Public Consultation

The toll is used to employ the Bridge Master, staff and attendants as well as maintain this 160-year-old bridge. The Trust has a legal duty to maintain the bridge ‘in proper repair and working order’.

The Clifton Suspension Bridge Trust receives no public money from national, regional or local government, nor from any other public body, so the income from tolls is the only source of funding for operating and maintaining the bridge.

In addition to the ongoing programme of scheduled maintenance and inspections, the Trust also undertakes a major refurbishment project every 25 years to repaint the bridge chains (the largest iron part of the structure) and replace the bridge lights. A major refurbishment is currently underway at a cost of approximately £8m and is due to be completed by December 2025.

Motorised vehicles (including motorcycles) currently pay £1 by contactless card at the barrier. There is no charge for pedestrians, cyclists or horse riders.

The toll was last increased in 2014 when it was set at £1. Since then, rising inflation, construction costs, updated health and safety requirements, wage and tax increases, climate change (how the bridge deals with stronger winds) and increased weight of traffic have affected and will affect the cost of maintaining the bridge.

The Trustees’ strategy is to set tolls at a level that not only covers the Bridge’s day-to-day running costs but also builds up funds to pay for the future major refurbishment and structural maintenance projects.

The Trustees have determined that the toll needs to be increased to ensure the continued operation and maintenance of Clifton Suspension Bridge. It is proposed that the toll is increased to £1.50 from approximately January 2027 (to reflect inflation since 2014) and, from then on, be increased annually in line with inflation. The actual date will however depend on the DfT’s view of our proposals.

Yes, we are proposing to increase the toll on an annual basis in line with inflation.

This would mean that the Trust does not have to continually re-apply for new fixed toll levels, avoiding the significant costs and time which could be better spent directly on the Trust’s core operations.

We are proposing to use the Office for National Statistics Construction Output index (All New Work, Repair and Maintenance) as the applicable inflation index. This would mean that increases in the toll are linked to the increases in construction costs, ensuring that costs and revenues remain broadly in line with each other.

The Trust proposes that future increases will be set using this index, but at 0.5% below the rate of inflation. The Trust’s detailed financial modelling shows that raising tolls at a lower rate (such as 1% below inflation rather than 0.5%) would materially increase the financial risk to the Trust and the bridge. This is because of the unique circumstances and costs involved in operating and maintaining the bridge, and especially the unavoidable need for a specific reserve of over £20 million (at 2050 prices), to pay for the next major painting and lighting refurbishment project in 2049/50.

For further details, please refer to Section 4 of the full consultation report (“Future increases in the permitted toll to be set according to an agreed construction inflation index”).

The consultation will run from Thursday 25 September to Friday 7 November.

After considering the responses carefully, we will finalise our proposals and submit an application for a toll increase to the DfT.

Subject to the decision made by the Department of Transport, which may involve a public inquiry, it is envisaged that the toll would then increase to £1.50 from January 2027.

Further increases will then be implemented in line with inflation, and are anticipated on an annual basis.

The nearest alternative routes over the River Avon are the M5 Avonmouth Bridge approximately 5 miles north, and three Cumberland Basin bridges over the River Avon/Floating Harbour half a mile south.

We know that in the past when we’ve raised the toll, the level of vehicles has dropped by about 10%, so we’ve allowed for this in our modelling and know that increasing the toll will actually reduce the number of vehicles crossing the bridge.

Year on year we’ve seen a 1% reduction in the number of vehicles crossing the bridge, and think this is down to how people are managing their day-to-day business, such as working from home more.

With respect to pedestrians and cyclists, we have the capability to allow people to cross by foot and always try to keep one footway open even when doing maintenance. [NB There is currently no charge for pedestrians or cyclists and there are no plans to charge cyclists and pedestrians to use the Bridge.]

We offer free crossings for those in receipt of the higher rate mobility component of Disability Living Allowance (DLA) or the enhanced rate mobility component of the Personal Independence Payment (PIP), and have a Bristol BS postcode, and that won’t change as a result of the proposed toll revisions on which the Trust is consulting.

This is outside of our control and is the responsibility of North Somerset Council. There is now paid parking on the North Somerset side of the bridge as well as the Bristol side, so if anyone was parking here and undertaking the rest of their journey on foot, they would have to pay for parking.

In our report, we’ve allowed for an initial one-step decline of 10% when the new toll would come in, and we’ve modelled that. This aligns with previous toll increases when the number of vehicles has continued to decline over time.

But because we’re assuming there’s going to be an inflation increase on the toll every following year as well, we’ve assumed that after the initial step down, traffic will continue to decline at 1% per year in accordance with the established long-term trend, so, the impact of the Trust’s proposed revisions has been modelled in line with that.

From a financial perspective, the continuing uncertainty is traffic volumes in relation to the measures that continue to be taken, and future measures that would be taken, by both North Somerset and Bristol City Council (and other external decision-makers) to reduce traffic volumes, particularly, to reduce vehicles coming into Bristol.

The consultation document sets out some of these existing and potential future measures, but they include the costs of parking, for example, the Park and Ride, emphasis on increased provision of bus lanes and North Somerset’s intention to reopen the Portishead rail link. The Trust has met with the transport teams of both Bristol and North Somerset Councils, and they’ve confirmed that these kinds of measures will continue.

This means that we’re seeing quite a lot of measures to reduce car volumes, and obviously that is factored in as part of our modeling.

The proposed toll increase and withdrawal of the 1000 crossings card option have not happened at the same time. The 1,000 crossings card option was withdrawn in April 2025.

The consultation document sets out the reasons for why the Trust needs to increase the amount of revenue generated in order to maintain, preserve and protect the Bridge for future generations. They are primarily economic reasons. We’ve seen very substantial increases in our costs since the toll increase in 2014, particularly in the last 5 years, including the inflation hike following the invasion of Ukraine, which we have experienced in common with all other organisations. This includes increases in construction costs, wage costs, and taxes.

With a fixed toll, unless we reapply to the Department for Transport, we can’t increase the current toll above £1, so the only immediate option available in terms of increasing revenue was to look at the discount that we offer in relation to the bridge cards.

We do understand that some people liked the 1,000 crossing card option, and the level of discount that it provided, but we need to try and improve our revenue in order to reflect the increased costs we face. Accordingly, there are no plans to reinstate the 1,000 crossing card option.

The 1,000 crossing card option has already been withdrawn, does not form part of the current available range and the Trust has no plans to reinstate it.

However. the Trust will consider all of the various comments submitted through this consultation after it concludes on the 7th of November before finalising the proposals, following which we will submit a formal application to the Department for Transport.

Our data shows that the traffic crossing the Bridge is actually falling on a year-on-year basis by about 1% per year, and we expect this reduction to continue in line with the established long-term trend. This is reflected in our modelling assumptions.

The Trustees have no power to do anything about the wider local road network as it’s outside of our legal remit. Management of the local road network on each side of the Bridge comes under North Somerset Council and Bristol City Council so any issues, such as concerns about rat-running or driving standards, should be directed to the relevant local authority.