The establishment of a new entity to manage the Forth Road Bridge and the new Forth crossing will not give rise to the reintroduction of tolls there, a spokesman for the current crossing operator has confirmed.
Scotland’s parliament passed a bill to set up a new company to manage the crossings and surrounding roads in a vote on 23 May.
The new legislation will lead to current crossing operator the Forth Estuary Transport Authority (Feta) being dissolved and the creation of a new private entity into which all current Feta staff will transfer during 2015.
It will also give rise to the current road bridge being reserved for buses, taxis and pedestrians, while other traffic will be routed across the new crossing, once it has been opened in late 2016.
A spokesman for Feta said road users "won’t see much difference" as a result of the change of operating company, adding that there was little chance, given current government policy, of any tolls re-emerging.
Tolls on the current road bridge were abolished in 2008.
"There’s no telling what future governments might do but as things stand, that’s not going to happen," he said.
