Lably
Skip to content

Greater Manchester congestion charge

  • 8 min read
  • 5 chapters

Related on Lably

Through Traffic congestion and Conservative Party (UK)

Lab · Class 9–11Work, Energy and PowerLab · Class 7–11Oscillations LabLab · Class 8–11Free Fall & Air ResistanceLab · Class 8–11Friction

The proposed charge was to help pay for improvements in public transport, with £3 billion in the form of a grant and loan, in particular for the Manchester Metrolink expansion, and to reduce congestion in Greater Manchester.

Proposed charge

The proposal was part of a bid to the Government's Transport Innovation Fund for a £2.7 billion package of transport funding and the introduction of a road congestion charging system. A key aspect of the proposed Manchester Congestion Charge was the setting up of the system, which will be paid for (£318 million) with part of the £2.7 billion fund from the TIF, £1.151 billion of which would have been in the form of a loan; the revenue from the charging scheme would have been used to repay the loan over a 30-year period.

It was proposed that vehicles entering the area bounded by the M60 motorway would be charged £2.00 in the morning peak, with a further £1.00 for those entering the inner cordon, roughly corresponding to the Manchester Inner Ring Road. In the evening, a further £1.00 would have been charged on exit of each cordon. The figures quoted by the Association of Greater Manchester Authorities (AGMA) and Greater Manchester Passenger Transport Executive were at 2007 prices. By 2013 AGMA estimated that the cost of crossing both cordons at charging times would be £6

The area covered by the charge would have covered about 80 square miles (210 km2).

The original zone covered by the London Congestion Charge was about eight square miles, Singapore two square miles and Stockholm 18 square miles, but the scheme differed from London in that charges would have been lower and the charging hours much shorter. Inbound charges would have applied between 0700 and 0930, outbound ones between 1600 and 1830. There was to be no charge during the middle of the day, later in the evening, at the weekend or for journeys against the peak flow: leaving the city in the morning or entering it in the evening.

Payment of the charge would be via a pre-pay "tag and beacon" system. Credit was to be automatically deducted from a driver's account as they passed each of the cordons. Occasional visitors to Manchester without a pre-pay tag would have been able to pay via call centre or internet, but there would have been a surcharge. The scheme was planned to be up and running by mid-2013, by which time it was anticipated that 80% of the public transport improvements would have been completed.

Motorcycles, black taxis and private hire cars would not have had to pay the charge. It was proposed that the Manchester scheme would charge motorcycles at a lower rate than cars, as they do not contribute to congestion to the same extent as cars but this was later dropped.

Sign in to keep reading

4 more chapters are free with a Lably account.

More in Transportation

Rail transportMode of transportCarMotorised passenger road vehiclePublic transportShared transportation service for use by the general publicTransportMovement of goods or people between locationsRapid transitHigh-capacity public transportCanalArtificial channel for water