Manchester Congestion Charge

[William the White]

I wonder how much the voting campaign and its admin actually did cost? You can look at about £1 each for the forms printing, post and return post and then there's the admin costs for the processing. Add in the initial designing and all the relevant meeting involved and it gets quite serious. Somebody will have to pay for all that eventually via taxes no doubt.

Not sure what your point is here, Tango.

Without the vote I suspect the offer of government funding would have led the councils to going for congestion charging in opposition to the desires of the population. [though I don't agree weith the majority, i'm in favour of accepting it].

Do you think you can buy democracy on the cheap?

[Hoboh]

I wonder how much the voting campaign and its admin actually did cost? You can look at about £1 each for the forms printing, post and return post and then there's the admin costs for the processing. Add in the initial designing and all the relevant meeting involved and it gets quite serious. Somebody will have to pay for all that eventually via taxes no doubt.

Not sure what your point is here, Tango.

Without the vote I suspect the offer of government funding would have led the councils to going for congestion charging in opposition to the desires of the population. [though I don't agree weith the majority, i'm in favour of accepting it].

Do you think you can buy democracy on the cheap?

I think he's getting at what I am here, who the hell was consulted about the proposals at the early stages? or was it done in smoke (free) rooms behind closed doors in much the same way most policys are?

[mummywhycantieatcrayons]

Don't really understand how the vote could have gone any other way...

Drivers are overwhelmingly likely to say no, and the last thing people who already use public transport want is more people crowding those services.

Turkeys don't vote for Christmas.

[Hoboh]

Don't really understand how the vote could have gone any other way...

Drivers are overwhelmingly likely to say no, and the last thing people who already use public transport want is more people crowding those services.

Turkeys don't vote for Christmas.

[Hoboh]

In case anyones interested


http://boards.msn.com/UKNewsboards/thre ... m=Page%3d1

Ps its my first thread don't kill me

[TANGODANCER]

The problem is that the roads are getting more congested daily and a lot of the said roads, even parking areas around business areas in towns, were never designed to cope with it all. Ask anyone who works in or around Manchester town centre; you can't find a street parking place to save our life. Our company resides in a large building next to the BBC and the parking spaces onsite that we have cost about £1100 each per anum.

As for public transport, only those who use it regularly know just how bad it can be. Trains cancelled and late. Trains doing the famous disappearing act, ie one twenty minutes late and scheduled to arrive on the same platform at the same time as the next one. One shows up packed to the rafters and people are left standing on the platform, late for work with no explanation. Complain and you get told you should have caught an arlier train. When you leave home at 7-am that takes some swallowing, believe me.

[Lord Kangana]

Needs more "megson outs". Must try harder.

[Hoboh]

Needs more "megson outs". Must try harder.

Lets have a referendum

[runningonbravado]

As for public transport, only those who use it regularly know just how bad it can be. Trains cancelled and late. Trains doing the famous disappearing act, ie one twenty minutes late and scheduled to arrive on the same platform at the same time as the next one. One shows up packed to the rafters and people are left standing on the platform, late for work with no explanation. Complain and you get told you should have caught an arlier train. When you leave home at 7-am that takes some swallowing, believe me.

Seconded. Number of times I've been left picking my dick on Oxford Rd Station waiting for a train. Worst is when the trains from Sheffield > Manc Airport get cancelled and the missus misses (hah) her flights to italy. Lateness pisses me off. If you say "I'll be here at 2pm sharp", fecking be there. Same applies for trains.


And next time I get delayed cos of Chavs on the track, I'm gonna go in the drivers cabin and run the feck-ers over.

[bobo the clown]

Can't begin to say how pleased I am.

If the past 10 years leave one legacy ... apart from Spin, stealth tax and the casual ripping-up of 400yrs of history ... the development of "big Government" will be it.

Every issue has a solution which is based in yet greater control. New rules, new laws, new restrictions ... usually based on liberalistic "good intent" and the collective attacking & ridiculing of anyone who disagrees. I described this 2 years ago as "Liberal Fascism" which caused some confusion at the time. But it continues apace ; "Agree with me, or you're a bad person and we will restrict your freedoms".

Now ... what about that referendum we were promised on the European Treaty ??? Lying b'stards.

[fatshaft]

People moan about public transport not being good enough. Then when someone comes up with an answer it gets turned down.

Perhaps it's time to start basing the right to vote on an IQ test. Hope you enjoy the endless traffic jams!

In fairness, for nearly everyone that's just an excuse, because what they want is better public transport so that others will use it, leaving more room on the roads for me an my car. Most wouldn't use public transport unless it picked you up at your door, and dropped you exactly where you want to go to, you know something like, well, your car for example.

[TANGODANCER]

Next time 500 of us are packed like sardines in a railway carriage, will they impose a congestion charge on us?

[Lord Kangana]

No, they'll use it as evidence of how popular public transport is. And remove another carriage, so they can save on heating. They use the roof in India, dontcherknow, stop complaining.

[hisroyalgingerness]

Next time 500 of us are packed like sardines in a railway carriage, will they impose a congestion charge on us?

That'd be this morning then TD

Honestly, they can't run the current service levels, so why we ever thought they'd cope with more services is laughable, and a justified reason for not paying the charge

[TANGODANCER]

Next time 500 of us are packed like sardines in a railway carriage, will they impose a congestion charge on us?

That'd be this morning then TD

Honestly, they can't run the current service levels, so why we ever thought they'd cope with more services is laughable, and a justified reason for not paying the charge

Aye, and then they wonder about recessions. If they added up all the time wasted by people being late for work due to public services, late buses, late and cancelled trains ......

[General Mannerheim]

I drive to Manchester every day crossing both rings and i voted yes.

we always have at least two of us in the car, this £25 a week is still less than three of us getting the bus and tram every day!

im not convinced the traffic would ease up but i was prepared to gamble on that one.

The main reason though was for the investment, in the midst of reccession the government want to chuck £3 billion quid in the pot, create a possible 10,000 jobs, and although i seldom use it, we would be left with an amazing public transport network - yet the great public said NO!?

I understand £25 a day is a lot of money to some people and small businesses, but I wonder about all the millions of folk who live in the area who never travel to manc, few of them probably voted as it dosent concern them - its these people i cant understand, their ignorance is unreal. im sure the poll would have been a much closer contest.

And thats not to mention the carbon issue, or the fuel conservation and the greener picture.

[BWFC_Insane]

I drive to Manchester every day crossing both rings and i voted yes.

we always have at least two of us in the car, this £25 a week is still less than three of us getting the bus and tram every day!

im not convinced the traffic would ease up but i was prepared to gamble on that one.

The main reason though was for the investment, in the midst of reccession the government want to chuck £3 billion quid in the pot, create a possible 10,000 jobs, and although i seldom use it, we would be left with an amazing public transport network - yet the great public said NO!?

I understand £25 a day is a lot of money to some people and small businesses, but I wonder about all the millions of folk who live in the area who never travel to manc, few of them probably voted as it dosent concern them - its these people i cant understand, their ignorance is unreal. im sure the poll would have been a much closer contest.

And thats not to mention the carbon issue, or the fuel conservation and the greener picture.

I think the general principal of the congestion charge is one I agree with as long as it is tied to vast improvements in public transport.

However, this particular proposal for me had some fundamental flaws.

1) Is that the outer ring was far too wide an area. Most of the congestion is ON the M60 which you would travel round for free. But come off it and you are charged. Lots of people cross the M60 but don't go anywhere near the centre of Manchester.

2) Would we really end up with a region wide excellent public transport system? I think thats highly debatable. Especially in places like Bolton where the improvements as described are lacklustre at best.

[Harry Genshaw]

The main reason though was for the investment, in the midst of reccession the government want to chuck £3 billion quid in the pot, create a possible 10,000 jobs, and although i seldom use it, we would be left with an amazing public transport network - yet the great public said NO!?

Job number forecasts always tend to be wildly exaggerated. I'm sure this was no different

The great public (or most of them) probably didnt see why they had to be bribed into accepting a congestion charge in order to get improved public transport.

[William the White]

The main reason though was for the investment, in the midst of reccession the government want to chuck £3 billion quid in the pot, create a possible 10,000 jobs, and although i seldom use it, we would be left with an amazing public transport network - yet the great public said NO!?

Job number forecasts always tend to be wildly exaggerated. I'm sure this was no different

The great public (or most of them) probably didnt see why they had to be bribed into accepting a congestion charge in order to get improved public transport.

We need public investment, because our infrastructure is so backward. We also, now, need it, because we are approaching a recession whose impact needs to be diminished as much as poss. And we need fewer traffic log jams in our cities. All to the good. Pity about the result.

[CAPSLOCK]

The main reason though was for the investment, in the midst of reccession the government want to chuck £3 billion quid in the pot, create a possible 10,000 jobs, and although i seldom use it, we would be left with an amazing public transport network - yet the great public said NO!?

Job number forecasts always tend to be wildly exaggerated. I'm sure this was no different

The great public (or most of them) probably didnt see why they had to be bribed into accepting a congestion charge in order to get improved public transport.

We need public investment, because our infrastructure is so backward. We also, now, need it, because we are approaching a recession whose impact needs to be diminished as much as poss. And we need fewer traffic log jams in our cities. All to the good. Pity about the result.

Mayvbe we should start by burning off the shitty white hatched areas on Moss Bank Way

FFs, the wánkers create congestion than ask us to pay to get rid of it

Thank God folk are bright enough to see through it