Shocking $10k bill racked up by 1000 Aussies

Nearly 1000 motorists in NSW are paying $10,000 or more per year just on tolls, shocking new data has revealed.

Individual e-toll data, released for the first time, shows dozens of account holders paying more than $30,000 per year, and 901 drivers whose annual spend is between $10,000 and $20,000.

The data was taken from the government-owned e-toll provider that has more than 1.4 million users. Business accounts and private account holders with more than three tags linked to their account were filtered out.

The state’s top toll payers are overwhelmingly based in western Sydney, and the number of people paying in excess of $10,000 per year is assumed to be much higher, as the data did not take in users whose tags are owned by privately-owned toll provider Linkt.

Toll spend between July 1 2023 and June 30 2024 reveals WestConnex was the state’s most used toll road, with 43 per cent of motorists, followed by the M7 with 16 per cent, the M5 and Sydney Harbour Bridge and Tunnel with 12 per cent, and the M2 with eight per cent.

Overall, the NSW government says motorists are spending $2.5 billion a year in tolls.

Roads Minister John Graham said the data was proof the state’s toll system was in urgent need of reform.

“The toll bills at the upper end of the scale are eye-watering in their magnitude and only reinforce the pressing need for toll reform in Sydney,” he said.

“We have nearly 1000 motorists whose annual spend on tolls is in excess of $10,000 which is a significant impost no matter who you are – but the fact is that the drivers paying these sky-high bills are in our western suburbs or central coast where people can least afford it.”

Earlier this year, the NSW government introduced a $60 toll cap for drivers spending between $60 and $400 a week, with a rebate of up to $340 on offer for personal toll trips in a private use vehicle registered in NSW.

Mr Graham said work would continue on toll reform, with projections revealing in its current state, the toll network would cost motorists $195 billion in tolls over the next three and a half decades.

“Toll reform is critical for Sydney and this is a once in a generation chance to address it while we continue to offer vital toll relief through the $60 toll cap,” he said.

“Sydney is a place in which people make choices about where they work and how they get around based on the need to avoid paying tolls. The problem grows each year. Over decades, it will become unsustainable and we must act now to create a fairer system.”