New card machines installed on the Tamar bridge have significantly reduced the time it takes to make contactless card payments.

Average transaction times have been reduced from 17 seconds to 6.5 seconds per transaction following the installation of the new card readers in toll booths. The fastest payments have been made in just two seconds.

Joint chairs of the Tamar Crossings, Cornwall councillor Martin Worth and Jon Dingle from Plymouth City Council, said: “This is very good news for everyone crossing the Tamar Bridge.

“Not only does it make the transaction quicker for those people who are paying by card but, by reducing the time they spend at the toll booth, it also speeds up journey times for everyone else as well”.

Over the last 12 months, Tamar Crossings has worked with their card payment processing providers to optimise ‘back office’ transaction times.

The team gained authorisation to use new faster hardware that could work in compliance with the council’s financial systems whilst working together with Cornwall Council, the toll system and processing providers.

The new faster card readers were installed at the beginning of September with the necessary authorisations in place. The system has now gone live in all six toll booths following a successful trial carried out in one booth, which has resulted in an average of over 10 seconds reduction in card payment times.

General manager David List said: “This has been a challenging project which has involved liaising with a number of different organisations to find the right solution for the bridge.

“As well as installing the new card readers, we also needed to work with the toll system providers to upgrade their systems. 

“With over 5,000 card transactions a day, these time savings add up and are very significant. 

“The faster card readers have already reduced congestion at the toll booths and we are now seeing reduced journey times.

“We hope that these increased payment speeds will also contribute towards reduced congestion in Saltash, and help with traffic flow during the upcoming National Highways tunnel upgrade project.”

The tunnel works in Saltash are due to start late November, and last up to 12 months.