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Congestion charge in Manchester? No fucking way, say the voters.

According to the Beeb; "The people of Greater Manchester have voted against plans to introduce a congestion charge in the region. Nearly two million people were asked to decide on a peak-time road charge to open up a £2.8bn transport investment. A majority of voters in all of the region's 10 boroughs voted against the plans, with 812,815 (79%) no votes and 218,860 (21%) in favour of the charge." More info here. It was quite a decisive result - according to the map on the Manchester Evening News website, the highest percentage in favour of this was 28%. That was in Manchester itself.

You might think I'd be cheering right now at the result. However, it's come as a surprise to me that I'm not. I wonder why people voted against it. Did the Mancs say they weren't prepared to pay £5 per day to get into the city centre? Questionable - it's unlikely that they all go there every single day. Did they ssay the alternatives to using the car weren't good enough? Again, very questionable claim. I visit Manchester every few months, and I can't help but notice just how much public transport there is seven days a week. During the daytime, you can't go more than two minutes without spotting a bus. Or is it simply that people are nice and warm in their cars and won't give them up?

So why was this rejected? And what do you think of the result?
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Comments

  • JsTJsT Posts: 18,268 Skive's The Limit
    Public Transport in Manchester is the same as everywhere, some places have a good service, some people have a terrible service.

    The fact it was rejected is because a) the ideas don't benefit everyone b) improvements needed to be made before the charge was introduced c) the investment was again in trams which is not what the people want d) the 'Yes' vote was rammed down the throats of people by the media and finally e) the outer band idea which would have penalised those who dont even go into Central Manchester.,

    The voting patterns are no surprise either, those in Wigan/Rochdale/Oldham got more yes votes because they would have been beneficarys, Stockport and Tameisde for example would have got nothing at all.

    What Manchester needs is a local authority that is prepared to invest in all forms of transport like WYPTE (West Yorkshire) or Centro (West Midlands), GMPTE only care about trams, as far as they are concerned everything else can rot.

    Besides - who would want to sign that amount of debt over to the next generation? TiF was just a loan - nothing more...
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    I voted against it because it includes crossing the M60, which means i'd have to pay it when i go to work, costing me around £800 a year if i was full time.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Could park and ride services be a good alternative?
  • JsTJsT Posts: 18,268 Skive's The Limit
    lea_uk wrote: »
    Could park and ride services be a good alternative?

    Yes. There was provision for one such site in the TIF plan - handily it was inside the congestion charge outer ring. Fucking morons.

    There is a very very very good prospective site available right now just off the M60 and the M67, massive space for parking, station and infrastructure already in place but vastly underused, GMPTE however just aren't interested in exploring the concept.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    O_o wrote: »
    I voted against it because it includes crossing the M60, which means i'd have to pay it when i go to work, costing me around £800 a year if i was full time.

    i voted no too :yes:
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    JsT wrote: »
    Yes. There was provision for one such site in the TIF plan - handily it was inside the congestion charge outer ring. Fucking morons.

    There is a very very very good prospective site available right now just off the M60 and the M67, massive space for parking, station and infrastructure already in place but vastly underused, GMPTE however just aren't interested in exploring the concept.
    Probably won't make enough money :rolleyes:
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    I don't live in Stockport anymore - however, this would have meant that everytime my brother wanted to drive to work (in Stockport, not Manchester) and everytime either him or my Dad wanted to leave Stockport (and not necessarily to go to Manchester) they would have to pay it.

    It was a ridiculous idea really, I'm not surprised that the result was a big fat NO. :)
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    What was the benefit of saying Yes exactly? As far as I could tell, it was improved public transport, which was already adaqueate IMO.
    I'm pretty sure all of my family voted no, and it isn't surprising at all.
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