Michael Clarke’s assertion (Letters, May 21) tolls would discourage long-distance traffic across the proposed east London river crossing is completely unsupported by any facts.

New roads fill up fast, and laying six lanes of fresh tarmac in an urban area is like rolling out the red carpet for more than 6,000 vehicles an hour to drive along.

Different tolls for local and long-distance traffic will not happen because the cost of running the system would be more than the money raised from the tolls.

Even if the local scheme only covered drivers living in Newham and Greenwich on either side of the bridge, more people would be affected than by congestion charging.

Processing their registration, inserting the electronic cards in the cars and dealing with the payments is just the start. Sorting out the demands for exemptions and dealing with the ongoing running costs, would swamp the £20m which Transport for London claims the tolls would raise.

This is not a local bridge for local people. It is a big strategic road on the site of the east London river crossing, which has been opposed by local people for the past 20 years.

It links the North and South Circulars and provides a fast through route for well-off suburban commuters to bypass the poor of east London on their way to work in Docklands.

Jenny Jones Green Party member of the London Assembly City Hall