Updated April 12, 2017 20:30:27

Photo: The Mayors do not want the M4 widening from Church Street to Concord Road to attract a toll. (AAP: Paul Miller)

Western Sydney mayors are pushing for a cap on road tolls as they believe drivers are being charged more "just because they live in western Sydney".

Just as weekly travel expenses are capped at $60 per week on an Opal card, the Mayors of Blacktown and Penrith want the same for road tolls, which they argue should be capped at $40 per week.

The mayors used the second day of the parliamentary inquiry into road tolls to make the case that the current NSW tolling system was inequitable and targets those least likely to be able to afford the tolls.

"It's basically a tax increase just because we live in western Sydney. It's disgusting," Blacktown Mayor Stephen Bali said.

Penrith Mayor John Thain agreed and said residents in the west "don't have much choice" but to use their cars as there was a serious lack of public transport to some areas.

Cr Thain added that Penrith's unemployment rate is lower than greater Sydney and the whole of NSW but there were less jobs in the area than employed residents, meaning people have to travel.

"We have low unemployment and self-sufficiency... there are not enough jobs so people often have to travel long distances to get to work," Cr Thain said.

"Two out of three Penrith residents have to leave our city to get to work."

The Mayors want consideration to be given to a system where tolls are lower in areas with limited public transport availability, and a cashback system for socially disadvantaged areas.

"[Otherwise] the impact on the day-to-day household budget will be tremendous," Cr Bali said.

"And if you take the back roads you just have a longer journey.

"We as a Government are here to build a good society but how can we say we are helping if we are forcing mums and dads to be away from their families for longer?"

Cr Thain said the NSW Government needed to take into account the traveller's origin and destination rather than a distance-based tolling system.

"A distance-based toll for residents of western Sydney would have devastating impact on disposable income of families," he said.

The Mayors are also against introducing tolls on Sydney's M4 motorway mid-2017 as it was widened for the WestConnex project, arguing it will create a significant cost burden to western Sydney commuters.

The reintroduction of tolls on the first stage between Church Street and Concord Road was particularly unfair, they said, as it was work upgrade and not a new delivery.

Topics: road-transport, local-government, penrith-2750, blacktown-2148

First posted April 12, 2017 19:12:09