Manchester Evening News has the story
I’ve got a Euro6 VW van on order since last November, but it won’t be built till 2023 given current lead times.
Makes much more sense than the massive area they were covering, if you need to go into the inner ring road commercially youll need to factor it in or upgrade (taxis). Can't see how a non charging solution would work. Personally i think Burnham forced this outcome and wasted millions to make the point the government forced this on Machester originally. No one has come out of it well and the congestion continues to get worse due to poorly thought out routes in and out of the city designed to maximise congestion.
Personally i think Burnham forced this outcome and wasted millions to make the point the government forced this on Manchester originally.
He's a fairly shrewd political operator - unlike Khan who is taking the flak for cutting bus services and hasn't managed to loudly and constantly state that it's the Tory Government that have put TfL in that position.
Yes, it's money wasted and there was a forest of signage went up but I think he had to let it get to that point before the outcry over the fare zone became too much for the Government to ignore.
Yes, it’s money wasted and there was a forest of signage went up but I think he had to let it get to that point before the outcry over the fare zone became too much for the Government to ignore.
People had forgotten / not heard about the incoming CAZ up until the signs went up.
The perimeter was too big as proposed but I can see it happening inside the M60.
I wish someone could come up with a workable scheme for ELR to become a commuter line to reduce the burden on the A56
But nutty that it would’ve started here
So, GMCA appear to have signed off a non-charging scheme. Not sure why they’re expecting HMG to agree to this when they’ve made it clear it won’t fly…
Think the only realistic scheme is a charging zone in central Manchester/Salford. Also strongly suspect this is what Burnham wants, but he also wants HMG to mandate it to deflect the political fallout.
Massive waste of money so far.
Aye. I’d also love to know if there’s any other city that’s successfully implemented a non-charging CAZ, that has actually improved air quality.
The cynic would suggest that the people doing the latest business case for GM were locked in a room and told they couldn’t leave until they’d made the maths work.
Massive waste of money so far and no chance of a non charging zone making any difference, we've got that already, its the status quo. Manchester can cut emmssions by making the traffuc fliw and stopping people using the residential areas as rat runs. Pretty much everything implemented in the last 10 years has increased congestion and therefore pollution. The exception is some if the better cycling provision but that's not very wide spread.
Aye. I’d also love to know if there’s any other city that’s successfully implemented a non-charging CAZ, that has actually improved air quality.
Nottingham.
They were told to implement a CAZ but - because the council own and run all the bus services in house, it's not privatised like almost everywhere else - they were able to renew the bus fleet and also do a load of work with taxis (EV grants etc). Most of the council vehicles are electric as well.
That (believe it or not) brought the air quality back within limits without having to go through the time, expense, consultations etc of a charging CAZ.
Manchester can cut emmssions by making the traffuc fliw and stopping people using the residential areas as rat runs.
To go off down a rabbit hole, there’s a complete lack of political will to filter rat runs (some of which is not surprising in given e.g. rioting in Rochdale and allegedly death threats to councillors in Oldham) when it’s been suggested. I think of 10 TfGM funded traffic management schemes, only one has made it to full implementation.
The only way traffic flow is going to improve is by reducing the number of cars on the road, and if you think a CAZ is politically toxic in Manchester, a congestion charge is worse. We’re still paying for the referendum on that…
The only way traffic flow is going to improve is by reducing the number of cars on the road, and if you think a CAZ is politically toxic in Manchester, a congestion charge is worse. We’re still paying for the referendum on that…
Very much this ^^.
Every week at around this time of year (and often when there's a big match or concert as well), Manchester Evening News will have a story about how it took [family] 4hrs to even get out of the multi-story car park due to absolute gridlock outside and then calls for something to be done about it.
So a suggestion is made that perhaps [family] could think about using P/T and [family] has a complete meltdown that THEY should be the ones expected to do something!
