The Manchester Congestion Charge Debate
Article published: Saturday, January 19th 2008
You have to be either stupid or an oil executive to deny that we are effecting the Earths climate. The question being asked is no longer is climate change a reality? The question has become what can we do about climate change? The latest proposal forwarded by Manchester City Council is to introduce a London style congestion charge to the city centre. Tim Hunt and Aidie Mormechfrom from Manchester Climate Action go head to head.
Arguments Against the Manchester Congestion Charge
The congestion charge is a regressive tax. I hate to boil it down to tax but I just cant get past it, every day we seem to be paying the council or central government more and more money. Income tax, council tax, national savings, VAT, tax on savings, fuel duty, etc. What I dont see is the government spending any money on combating climate change. I see our money being spent on subsidising Manchester airport to the tune of £10 million pounds per year, on motorway expansion and ironically on reports that talk about the dire economic consequences of not taking action on climate change (see the Stern report).
If I thought the money raised by the congestion charge might be ring-fenced and spent on environmental projects, such as increasing the availability of recycled bio-fuels, better public transport and clean local energy projects, I might be more in favour of the project. As it stands I get this horrible nagging feeling that any money raised from the congestion charge will disappear into council bureaucracy.
If the council is serious about reducing pollution caused by road traffic, then it needs to invest in affordable public transport or an integrated public transport system (or both). At the moment Manchesters public transport is expensive, uncomfortable and unreliable. The council has little or no power over private companies that run public transport. They can charge extortionate prices for short journeys in old inefficient busses or trains. As for the introduction of an integrated transport system, I wont be holding my breath. The excuse will probably be lack of funds, even if if the congestion charge is introduced.
Arguments For Manchester Congestion Charging
Firstly, the charge will be £5 maximum, which is much cheaper than London. It is expected to reduce traffic by up to 40%. £1 billion has been promised to invest in Manchesters public transport system with an extra £2 billion loan against future congestion fees. This would be the biggest one-off investment in public transport in any city outside London.
Car and van ownership in Manchester is relatively low. Some 48% of households in Manchester do not own a vehicle compared to 27% of households in England as a whole. The charge will benefit people on lowest incomes for whom buying and maintaining a car is not affordable, especially given the continuous rise of oil and petrol prices. Besides this, the effects of a high carbon lifestyle, extreme weather and sea level rise, are drastic and immediate for millions of the worlds poorest.
Experience from London is promising. Notable signs of progress since the congestion charging zone was introduced in 2003 are: Traffic entering the zone reduced by 21 % (70,000 fewer vehicles) with a comparable reduction in emissions; an increase in cycling within the zone by 43% and, aside from recent effects from roadworks, a 30% reduction in congestion within the zone. Excess waiting time for buses are down by 45% within the zone and disruption to bus services is down by 60%.
Public transport improvements in Manchester could include: An extra tram-line in the city centre and extra lines to the Trafford Centre, Stockport, Ashton, East Didsbury, Wythenshawe, Oldham and Rochdale. There is also a proposed nine-miles of separate bus lanes between Manchester and Bolton, hundreds of new trains to ease overcrowding, improvements to railway stations and interchanges at Altrincham, Bolton, Manchester, Rochdale and Wigan plus expanded bike routes around the city.
The congestion charge is more than just a government policy. It can be part of our agenda to see Manchester and its people making a positive impact on the world. With other cleaner and more healthy forms of transport possible, Manchester could lead the way – by limiting traffic around the city and giving those out and about on foot or bike a better time of it too.
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