Controversial plans to increase a monthly fee for people who use a prepaid electronic tag system to cross the River Tamar between Devon and Cornwall could be the subject of a public consultation.
The Tamar Bridge and Torpoint Ferry Joint Committee previously voted in December to increase the administration fee for users of the Tamar Tag from 80p per month to £2.
But after public opposition the committee is now recommending a public consultation should be held on the price increase for Tamar Tag users – who are entitled to a 50% reduction in tolls.
The committee is holding an extraordinary meeting in Plymouth on Monday to discuss which course of action it wants to take.
The report which recommends the public consultation said keeping the monthly fee at 80p would cost Tamar Bridge and Torpoint Ferries (TBTF) about £690,000 a year.
The reduced income would mean TBTF could face a deficit of nearly £1m by 2029/30.
The bridge and ferries are operated and maintained jointly by Plymouth City Council and Cornwall Council.
The report said if the monthly fee was not increased “further significant action will be required to increase income and/or reduce expenditure to avoid the reserve going into deficit” with Plymouth City Council and Cornwall “required to provide revenue funding”.
The proposed increase has been opposed by Labour MPs and Luke Pollard, MP for Sutton and Devonport, said: “I hope that the committee abandons their new Tamar Tag charges and fully adopts cheaper tolls for local people.”
The monthly fee has been 80p since 2014 and there are currently about 56,000 Tamar Tag users.
Price increases for all tolls were approved in March 2025, with fares for cars and vans going up from £2.60 to £3.00, and fares for Tamar Tag holders increasing from £1.30 to £1.50.
