Editing Forth Road Bridge (section)

==Tolls==
On 11 February 2008, tolls were abolished on the bridge by The Scottish Government.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.scotland.gov.uk/News/Releases/2008/01/30104724 |title=Abolition of bridge tolls |date=30 January 2008 |access-date=8 March 2013|publisher=The Scottish Government}}</ref>

Initially, it was suggested that tolls would cease once the original cost of construction (plus accrued [[interest]]) was repaid. This was achieved in 1993, and it was planned that tolls would not be levied after May 1995. Instead, legislation enabling the continued levying of tolls was renewed by Parliament (originally that of the UK but now the Scottish Parliament) in 1998, 2003 and 2006.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.notolls.org.uk/scotland.htm |title=National Alliance Against Tolls – Scotland |publisher=notolls.org.uk |access-date=15 January 2012}}</ref>

Originally, a toll was paid for each direction of travel, with sets of tollbooths on both carriageways. In 1997, the northbound toll was doubled (from 40p to 80p) and the southbound toll abolished on the presumption that almost all traffic makes a return journey across the bridge, and that the removal of the southbound toll would result in a reduction of congestion without reducing revenue.

FETA said the continued charging of tolls was necessary to fund maintenance and improvement works. These included the construction of defences around the submerged piers forming the bases of the main towers to guard against collisions. The main towers were also strengthened with internal steel columns (the original tower structure was hollow) and had hydraulic rams jack up these sections to transfer a portion of the load to the new steelwork. Also, the vertical cables suspending the deck had their bolts replaced after a detected failure. A new paint system required development for the bridge (the original was phased out due to environmental concerns).<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.feta.gov.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=31&Itemid=53 |publisher=Forth Estuary Transport Authority |title=Bridge Projects |access-date=7 September 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090814203507/http://www.feta.gov.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=31&Itemid=53 |archive-date=14 August 2009}}</ref>

===Variable tolling proposals===
In late-2005, FETA's committee approved a proposed revamp of the tolls. The minimum toll would stay fixed at £1, but higher tolls would be charged at some times of day, with a maximum of £4 during evening rush hours. All tolls would be halved for cars with more than one occupant, as an incentive for motorists to share cars and make fewer journeys.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/scotland/4468800.stm|title=Bridge board backs £4 toll plan|date=25 November 2005|access-date=18 January 2018}}</ref> According to FETA's chairman [[Lawrence Marshall]], the system would provide the most efficiency; he said that 80% of peak-time journeys are made by single-occupant vehicles. The proposal, passed with the chairman's casting vote after the committee was deadlocked, was referred to the [[Scottish Executive]] in December 2005, and implementation planned for October 2007 subject to approval by Transport Minister [[Tavish Scott]]. Environmental groups welcomed the proposal, but local politicians condemned it as simply a means of raising capital. At the same time, Fife councillors counter-proposed the complete removal of tolls.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/4468800.stm |title=UK &#124; Scotland &#124; Bridge board backs £4 toll plan |work=BBC News |date=25 November 2005 |access-date=15 January 2012}}</ref>

The Scottish Parliament debated the proposals in January 2006, and the affair became a major political issue after UK Cabinet Ministers [[Gordon Brown]] and [[Alistair Darling]] ([[Chancellor of the Exchequer]] and [[Secretary of State for Scotland]] respectively) were seen to describe the variable tolling plan as "dead in the water".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.scotsman.com/news/not_even_an_election_can_bridge_the_gap_between_gordon_and_jack_1_1408847 |title=Not even an election can bridge the gap between Gordon and Jack – News |publisher=scotsman.com |date=29 January 2006 |access-date=15 January 2012}}</ref> Scottish [[First Minister of Scotland|First Minister]] [[Jack McConnell]] insisted his [[Labour Party (UK)|Labour Party]] colleagues were misquoted, and refused to rule out the plan, receiving criticism from the opposition [[Scottish National Party]].<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/4650128.stm |title=UK &#124; Scotland &#124; Minister defiant on bridge issues |work=BBC News |date=26 January 2006 |access-date=15 January 2012}}</ref>

There was a [[2006 Dunfermline and West Fife by-election|by-election on 9 February 2006]] for Dunfermline and West Fife, the constituency in which the north end of the bridge is situated. It was contested (in addition to the major political parties in Scotland) by an Abolish Forth Bridge Tolls Party. [[Liberal Democrats (UK)|Liberal Democrat]] candidate [[Willie Rennie]] won the election, overturning a large Labour majority on a 16% [[swing (politics)|swing]]. Afterwards, media speculated that the Executive had turned against the proposals, and Tavish Scott eventually confirmed their rejection and the retention of the existing toll structure on 1 March 2006. FETA condemned the decision, while local opposition [[Member of the Scottish Parliament|MSPs]] charged the Minister that his tolling review short-changed Fifers as tolls were axed on the [[Erskine Bridge]], leaving tolls on just the Forth and [[Tay Road Bridge]]s.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.scotsman.com/news/bridge_boss_furious_over_decision_to_freeze_tolls_1_973310 |title=Bridge boss furious over decision to freeze tolls – News |publisher=scotsman.com |date=2 March 2006 |access-date=15 January 2012}}</ref>

===Abolition===
When an [[Government of the 3rd Scottish Parliament|SNP minority government]] was formed after the [[2007 Scottish Parliament election|Scottish parliamentary election of May 2007]], a new debate on the abolition of tolls was opened by Transport Minister [[Stewart Stevenson]] on 31 May 2007, and the abolition was agreed by a large majority. Annual toll income at that point totalled £16,000,000.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.scotsman.com/news/politics/bridge_tolls_scrapped_by_the_end_of_the_year_1_749710 |title=Bridge tolls 'scrapped by the end of the year' – Politics |publisher=scotsman.com |date=1 June 2007 |access-date=15 January 2012}}</ref>

The Abolition of Bridge Tolls (Scotland) Bill was introduced in the Scottish Parliament on 3 September 2007, passed on 20 December 2007, and received royal assent on 24 January 2008.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/s3/bills/01-AbolitionBridgeTolls/index.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080112154009/http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/s3/bills/01-AbolitionBridgeTolls/index.htm|url-status=dead|title="Abolition of Bridge Tolls (Scotland) Bill" Scottish Parliament.|archive-date=12 January 2008}}</ref> The tolls were removed on 11 February 2008 at 00:01&nbsp;GMT.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.scotsman.com/news/politics/date_set_for_bridge_tolls_to_be_removed_1_1242938 |title=Date set for bridge tolls to be removed – Politics |publisher=scotsman.com |date=30 January 2008 |access-date=15 January 2012}}</ref> The abolition of the tolls was enacted immediately after a major reconstruction of the northbound toll plaza was completed.<ref>Granted planning permission in August 2006</ref>