No Congestion Charge for Manchester, England

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Posted: Sat Dec 13, 2008 12:38 pm

I work in Manchester city centre - only been using the car/bike for about 4 years. The previous 15 years I used public transport exclusively.

Originally I used buses - too slow. Frequently taking over an hour to travel 9 miles in traffic which was probably less congested than it is now. In winter - very cold, never had any heating switched on - almost as though the driver was being charged personally for the extra fuel that would have been used. After 6pm the services round here are hourly. If I was late out of work I'd have to rely on my wife picking me up or walk the last couple of miles. Never seems to be any consistancy in fare charging. Only last week my daughter was charged £1.20 to travel from home to nearby town centre & £1.40 for the same journey in the opposite direction.

So, I switched to trains. Could almost guarantee at least twice per week the train would be cancelled or delayed. Train always arrived full. If you were lucky you could squeeze into the space near a door. On the return journey, the train doors would be closed several minutes before the train left, because it was too full - leaving dozens of people still standing on the platform. Bear in mind, these weren't isolated cases - it happened every day.

Trams don't run out this way. Even with the proposals under the TIF, they would only reach about 2/3 of the way out to where I live.

On the whole, If I had to use one word to sum up 15 years of commuting by public transport it would be 'unpleasant'.

In principle, I may have supported a charging zone based on the inner ring only. Build a few decent park n ride's a couple of miles out of the centre & run a fleet of shuttle buses. In summer, I'd happily walk from, let's say Eastlands, to the city centre. When it stops snowing/sleeting/raining I'll be back on the bike anyway & wouldn't have been affected by the congestion charge even if it had been approved. To start a charging zone up to 6 miles away from the city centre was just begging for a 'No' vote.

Just my 2p.

** Retired ** Joined: 14 May 2007 Posts: 750 Location: Air

Well done Manchester, anyway.

Posted: Mon Dec 15, 2008 10:22 am

i use public transport because the parking is so crap. i have to park and walk 2 miles if i did.

i`ve been pelted with milk bottles on the bus. its not nice.

i understand why some folks never use the bus.

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