Sydney’s Western Harbour Tunnel toll to be Australia’s first tag-free toll road

At a Glance 

• Slated to open in 2028, Western Harbour Tunnel to become Australia’s first tag-free toll road 
• Tolls will be charged using video-based licence plate matching, rather than an in-car e-tag 
• Tunnel will remain owned by state government, operated by US-based TransCore

Drivers using Sydney’s future Western Harbour Tunnel won't hear the familiar e-tag ‘beep’ as they use the new toll road between the Warringah Freeway and Rozelle Interchange. 

In a new announcement, the NSW Government says the 6.5km Western Harbour Tunnel will become Australia’s first tag-free toll road when it opens to traffic in late 2028. 

The tunnel will use a video-based system that matches licence plates to toll accounts, rather than relying on an e-tag stuck to the windscreen as conventional toll roads do. 

The government is pitching the move as a simpler way to charge tolls, and a cheaper one to run. It says tag-free tolling will eliminate the need for e-tags, cutting the cost and complexity of hardware, reducing plastic and battery waste, and still delivering the “high performance” motorists expect from a traditional toll road. 

The Western Harbour Tunnel is planned to run from the Warringah Freeway on Sydney Harbour’s north to the inner city’s Rozelle Interchange. It will become Sydney's second harbour tunnel crossing option alongside existing routes, while also linking into Sydney’s wider motorway network. 

Under the approach outlined by the government, drivers should not need to change anything, as long as they already have a toll account linked to their licence plate and personal details. 

How tag-free tolling will work for motorists 

The key change is that tolling shifts from an in-vehicle identifier to a vehicle identifier: your car’s number plate. 

That has a couple of knock-on effects. For many drivers it should be a set-and-forget situation, negating the need to remember to remove an e-tag when the car is sold. It also means staying on top of registration changes (for example, disposal notices required after selling a vehicle). 

Keeping number plates clean and visible, when towing or carrying bikes on the back, will also matter that much more. Transport for NSW and NSW Motorways say the technology is already proven in North America and Europe, and the technology is likely to be rolled out to other toll roads in the future. 

US-based Transcore joins Sydney’s toll road ecosystem 

The other big headline is who is running the tolling system. There are currently 14 toll roads in Sydney, most of which are tied to Transurban’s network. Only the Sydney Harbour Tunnel and Sydney Harbour Bridge are owned by the NSW state government. 

Following a competitive tender, the NSW Government has awarded the Western Harbour Tunnel tolling contract to US-based TransCore. The company is new to the Australian market, however it has already launched “toll-by-plate" technology in the US. 

NSW is also drawing a clear line around ownership and revenue. The government says the Western Harbour Tunnel is being built as a public asset, and that revenue collected from its toll will be reinvested in the state rather than paid to private operators. 

Toll relief remains high on agenda 

The news of the tag-free tech lands about a year after fresh criticism about how much Sydneysiders pay in tolls, and who wears the worst of it. 

An ABC Four Corners investigation in October 2025 argued toll costs are biting hardest in the outer suburbs, where drivers can end up with a motorway network on one side, and very few realistic alternatives on the other. 

The Australian Automobile Association’s Affordability Index shows that in the last quarter of 2022 Sydneysiders paid an average of $94 a week in tolls. In its own statements on toll reform, the NSW Government has dubbed Sydney the “most tolled city on earth” and warning the network, as currently contracted, could cost motorists a projected $195 billion in nominal tolls through to 2060. 

The M5 South-West cashback scheme, in place since late 2022, allows users of the motorway to claim back the cost of tolls on a quarterly basis. Since early 2024 the NSW Government has run a $60-a-week toll cap that lets eligible motorists claim back up to $340 toll spend above that threshold.

The NSW government came under fire again in August for not delivering on a toll admin fee relief promise from the 2023 election. The toll cost of the new Western Sydney Harbour Tunnel, and whether it will be included in the toll cap, is not yet confirmed. 

Drivers can calculate tolls for their trip using the NSW state government’s Sydney Motorways Toll Calculator. Claim toll relief rebates here.