Manchester: £8.00 return

Manchester to become the second city outside London to introduce congestion charging

Manchester Evening News, 24 January 2007

Don’t panic, this is not the current peak return train fare from Stalybridge or Bolton to Manchester. This is the projected rate of the Congestion Charge, which will be imposed on the 15 most busiest road corridors in the Greater Manchester area.

Affected within the area east of the M60 motorway will be: Rochdale Road (A664); Oldham Road (A62); Ashton Old Road (A635); Hyde Road (A57) and Stockport Road (A6). Previous plans involved placing the congestion charge zone inside the M60 motorway. Zones have been selected on a road basis - and quite rightly - the roads affected sport frequent bus services. Each driver will pay £3.00 within each corridor zone. It was stated that income from the charges will go toward improving public transport.

On the online poll, so far, some 78% are opposed to congestion charges in Greater Manchester.

I beg to differ. Since 2003, I have favoured the use of congestion charges, so long as there were tangible improvements to our bus and rail networks (and I speak from experience as a bus user). At present, Manchester’s deregulated buses and privatised trains have put a sizeable number of Mancunians off most forms of public transport for life. Learning to drive is seen as a rite of passage along with christenings, weddings and birthdays.

Congestion Charging should be imposed on condition that:

• The buses were restored to public ownership, regulated, or franchised;
• Bus fares are substantially cut to pre 26 October 1986 levels;
• Bus services should only be reviewed through public consultation with sufficient notice;
• Heavy rail and light rail services have sufficient rolling stock to allow for increased passenger numbers and longer trains;
• Persons travelling shorter distances should be charged more during the peak hour.

The latter point is an unashamed dig at the school run, which accounts for 20% of UK road traffic on a normal weekday.  I can speak from experience, having noticed a saving of 10 - 15 minutes on a seven mile bus journey in the peak period of school holiday times, compared with school days.  Within this point, I feel that:

• Lone drivers should be encouraged to share vehicles, through fellow family members, or a voluntary car club scheme;
• Journeys under one mile should attract a premium further to the standard congestion charge rate (goodbye to short trips for milk at a local off licence within walking distance);
• Children should be encouraged to use public transport or foot for travel to and from school.

Assuming that a fair number of schoolchildren are chauffeured to their nearest school, how would they learn to use public transport independently?  How would they know how to behave on bus or train route, or how to purchase tickets?  How would they be able to read a timetable?  In doing this, we are denying children basic life skills, required for travel to and from work, leisure activities and respect.  With the latter point, I use the term ‘respect’ in the context of personal space on buses; cooperating with railway guards; giving up seats for elderly persons, and queueing.

As a country, we need to get our priorities right regarding public and personal transport.  Firstly, the cost of motoring has been allowed to stay constant since 1970, whilst public transport fares have increased by 95% upwards since 1986.  Secondly, we need to see a change in perception of ’successful public transport’ networks.  At present, a profitable network is seen by some as a success, rather than one where connections are coordinated and fares are subsidised.  Thirdly, we need to integrate planning with transport provision more.  Compare the car friendly retail parks with the bus friendly town centres.

Can we do it?

Fares Unfair

Or ‘Why is a single from Stalybridge to Dukinfield four times the price per mile as one from Manchester to London?’

Death and taxation are often stated as a main inevitability of life in dear old Blighty.  What is never mentioned are that annual transport fare increases are another one.

Much noise has been made over the rail fare increases on the 2nd January this year.  Several sources have stated that train travel will become a middle class pursuit.

Think again.

A lot of noise has been made over a fare from Manchester Piccadilly to London Euston costing £219 (second class).  That is 34p per mile.

In my area, 34p a mile on my local bus routes would be a fares cut instead of an increase.  A single fare journey from Dukinfield (Morrisons) to Stalybridge (Armentieres Square) on one route will cost £1.40 as of the 14th January this year.  The distance? About one mile; that is four standard (non discounted) fares from London to Manchester per mile!  Over the same distance, a taxi fare on the daytime Tariff 1 of one local private hire taxi firm would cost approximately £3.50 (for four people).  The bus alternative: £5.60 for four people, with a saving of £2.10 for the same party, in a taxi.

Though rail fare increases attract the greatest criticism in the national newspapers, the bus user outside of Greater London is forgotten.  I would love a 5% increase on bus fares rather than a 10% one.  Better still, I would like a swingeing fares cut to 1986 levels and properly subsidised transport.

Bus fares in Greater Manchester have increased by 10% year on year since 1986.  Though this may have seemed realistic in 1990, when inflation was in double digit figures, this is by no means a joke, now that UK 2007 inflation figures are 3.6%.

If you live within the Greater Manchester area, and if you can afford it, I strongly recommend buying one of the System One season tickets - or the company’s own season tickets.  If, like myself, you work in the centre of Manchester, think of how much you will save on single fares to the city - and use your pass for the short distance journeys which would otherwise cost you next to millions.  If you have the legs, and your journey’s a short distance, use a form of transport which has had unparalleled reliability since Adam and Eve or the Big Bang.

Foot/Shank’s Pony/Walking.

A (much belated) Happy New Year to all readers of ‘East of the M60′,

Stuart.