Disgusted by Manchesters Congestion Charge Proposal

Kells_Bells

I've already sent 2 complaints to the council. As if working in the city centre isn't costly enough, and the worst thing is they are going to charge delivery drivers too, so costs in gerneral will go up.

I know that they only say it is going to be 7-9.30am inward and 4-6.30pm outwards, but this is just the start.

Remember 3-4 years ago when it was £1.20 per hour on the meter, then doubled over night?

Remember when they abolished free parking on Saturday afternoons?

Then there was the other parking rule that was almost passed in January, about paying to park evenings and weekends.

Pppppplllllleeeeeeaaaaaaase Manchester CIty Council, don't make it any harder for me to get out of debt!:mad: :mad: :mad:

black-saturn

Your all moaning about public transport but I havn't had a car for about 6 years. I am in a long distance relationship with someone who lives 150 miles away and I still manage to see him every weekend. I work in a job which involves a fair bit of travelling around and I have 2 children. I CHOOSE not to have a car because of the cost. I was aware of the cost of having a car and decided to take public transport, walk or bike whenever I can. I'm afraid if you know the charges and still CHOOSE to take your car you will have to pay the charges.

black-saturn

No. Whats where I live got to do with it?

black-saturn

albertross wrote: »

Because London has a better public transport infrastructure than the rest of the country. Public transport just isn't feasible for a lot of people, that's why they use cars.

I'm in a small town in Suffolk. It was difficult to live without a car at first but now I've got used to it. It is possible but people who have cars don't seem to be able to see past their dashboard.

nullogik

Yet another tax on the poor.

I'm uptown quite a lot and I can honestly say that a large majority of cars going around are private hire limos ferrying "one man and his FT newspaper" to/from work during the day. Now these corps execs are hardly riding around in VW Polos, instead they're being ferried around in large Mercedes S Classes, BMW 7 series, and Jaguars with huge engines. How much pollution is being put out by those?

So a £7 charge isn't going to bother "Mr Big" is it, because he's not paying for the private hire car is he? No, its the big multinationals for whom £7 a day is like 1p to me. So the congestion charge isn't going to deter these big luxobarges from coming into the centre of London is it.

However, take your nurses and policemen for example, who might have to work awkward hours and simple HAVE to use a car to get to work. Many of these low income earners earn less than £7 an hour and so they'll have to work a full hour before they start to earn any cash. Its these people who find public transport is very expensive and perhaps most unsuitable.

iltisman

Once this is rolled out accross the UK people should review whether it is worth their while commuting to work as it may be better jacking in work and joining the resting classes.

dawsonchris

Its just another scheme to make more money for Tony Balir/Gordon Brown and his fellow puppets! People rely on cars to get to work, to earn money to live.

The Public transport network has insufficient spare capacity to cater for travellers deterred from using their cars in the area by the charge.

Chris

anewman

If this is done with black boxes in cars perhaps you can all arrange a mass black box destroying protest. If it's ANPR, then maybe a mass number plate covering protest and some 1am camera burners/smashers. (Already happens with speed cameras).

I am all for the environment though, and schemes like car sharing are great ideas where they work well. I personally am a fan of the 2+ lane into leeds where if you're on your own in a car you can expect a much increased journey time as those in the 2+ lane are given preferential traffic signal timing etc. It's a shame that this isn't being rolled out into more cities, and they're going the money making route.

Maybe employers will have to up their wages or offer to pay the costs for their employees, if they don't want to have retention problems. This will only affect business/industry in city centres in the end.

nearlyrich

It's not just going to charge people going into Manchester though is it?

I am a sales manager, visit customers around the North west and I live about 20 miles north of Manchester. To get to most of my customers I have to use the M60 en route to the M62 or the M6 etc. I will be paying every day to use the M60 even if I am not going to contribute to the congestion. If I have to go into the city centre I already use the bus as we have a good service from here. (I used it yesterday it costs £4.80 return so cheaper than parking for a few hours let alone the cost of the fuel)

This is just a scam to charge the motorist even more money, I am already paying tax on my completely necessary tool of my job, my company car and it's counted as income for things like tax credits. It's just not possible to carry samples and literature for 3 to 4 visits a day on a bus or train.

I have sent my thoughts to the site highlighted by the OP.

siamese0109

anewman wrote: »

If this is done with black boxes in cars perhaps you can all arrange a mass black box destroying protest. If it's ANPR, then maybe a mass number plate covering protest and some 1am camera burners/smashers. (Already happens with speed cameras).

I am all for the environment though, and schemes like car sharing are great ideas where they work well. I personally am a fan of the 2+ lane into leeds where if you're on your own in a car you can expect a much increased journey time as those in the 2+ lane are given preferential traffic signal timing etc. It's a shame that this isn't being rolled out into more cities, and they're going the money making route.

Maybe employers will have to up their wages or offer to pay the costs for their employees, if they don't want to have retention problems. This will only affect business/industry in city centres in the end.

and I hate the 2+ lane into Leeds! Even though I use an alternative route the other traffic that avoids the 2+ has impacted on my journey time enormously and it can take me 45 mins to do the 5 mile trip now. I also need to use my car for work during the day so public transport is just not feasible for me. Leeds are also talking about congestion charges so it won't be long before they're going the 'money making route'. :mad: