Manchester congestion charge go ahead
A consortium of local authorities in Manchester today hope to be awarded £1.5bn for an ambitious congestion charging scheme. It is claimed that up to £2.8bilion will be invested in local public transport.
The plans for the congestion charging scheme have divided the local community; the Greater Manchester Momentum Group, with almost 100 business members, says the scale of the scheme would bring risks to the area, pushing up costs for businesses and employees.
The scheme will charge vehicles travelling inside the M60 motorway during peak times from 2013, with one charge for driving in an outer ring and another for using the city centre.
A spokesperson for the Environmental Transport Association said: “We support the idea of road user charging – after all, with car ownership increasing 25 per cent every 10 years, left unattended the situation can only get worse. The trouble is that Manchester’s proposal is only slightly more sophisticated than London’s scheme and what we don’t want is ten different cities with ten different schemes; a national road pricing scheme would be more effiecient and fairer to drivers.”
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The ETA is a not-for-profit ethical organisation providing motorists with carbon-neutral breakdown cover and insurance products. As well as encouraging responsible driving to reduce carbon, the ETA campaigns for sustainable transport.
