[Arty_Fufkin]

Manchester is being threatened with a congestion charging by it's local town clerk. Anyone from the NW got a view on this daft idea?

[Indizine]

How can a town clerk threaten a congestion charge? I dont see any need; its nothing compared to Sheffield

[Andy Trish]

yep me, I count cos I'm originally a scouser.

where is the money going to go that they make? will it help traffic problems or just help fill the coffers? how much will the main government grab (as they always do) how much will the shopkeepers suffer? do the locals want it?

how much will it cost to run? who will run it?

has the world gone mad?

schemes like this are just another way to tax people and in my opinion if they want to do this then the people of Manchester (and London) should get reduced road taxes (that doesnt get spent on the roads anyway.)

to put things into perspective lets get rid of all the other taxes and just have one bloody big one that we all know we are being ripped off by instead of the millions we have now and we just expect to be ripped off by.

[Arty_Fufkin]

Originally Posted by Indizine

How can a town clerk threaten a congestion charge? I dont see any need; its nothing compared to Sheffield

Well, they have applied for 1.2bn loan to improve buses on the basis that they will charge anyone who drives within the M60. The town clerk has put his weight behind the idea (I've no idea if the town clerk gets a kickback from any of hte contractors who get to impliment the scheme but he's already got a cushy appointment or two on the back of the scheme).

It basically is a plan to put Manchester's economy back to 1982

[Indizine]

ah right well the M60 being a motorway, albeit a ring road of one, is slightly different. I thought you meant town centre. Yes the M60 is bad and im not sure what the answer is but then again, other MW's have their peak traffic congestion just the same. It will have its side effects if it does introduce a charge.

[Alvin]

to true bring on the congestion charges.The less cars we have on the roads the better.

They should ban all cars over 1 litre,and definitley not have cars in any cities.

I can remember what it was like on our roads in the 1940's beautifull.

They reckon 50% of car journeys could be done faster on a bike in cities.

Alvin

[boxby]

Originally Posted by Alvin

They should ban all cars over 1 litre,and definitley not have cars in any cities.

You've got to have an alternative though - and granted I think Manchester has one of the best public transport networks, but most other towns don't.

For example Edinburgh; they tried to implement the congestion charge before building the tram network!! Surprisingly congestion charge was voted out!!

[technohead]

people will want to pay to get out of mac, not drive round it

[Arty_Fufkin]

The actual chagecmes in if you cross Manchester side of the M60, basically a nstant killer to the Manc economy.