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Number on M6 Toll dips by 10%
Monday 20th April 2009, 8:00PM BST.
The number of motorists paying to drive through the West Midlands on the M6 Toll has plummeted by more than 10 per cent, new figures have revealed.
The latest traffic statistics for the pay-as-you-go road reveal that 4,000 fewer vehicles used the motorway each weekday between January and March this year compared to the same period during 2008.
It is the seventh successive quarter of falls in traffic, and despite rises in toll prices the motorways’ revenue has also dipped by 5.3 per cent.
The figures are almost 40 per cent down on the roads peak traffic level in the third quarter of 2006.
The National Alliance Against Tolls (NAAT) has called for the toll to be scrapped in order to tackle congestion across the Midlands and said the price would be worth paying for the benefit it would bring.
For weekdays during the months January to March this year the toll attracted 39,105 vehicles compared to 43,828 for the same period last year, which is a drop of 10.8 per cent.
It was worse on weekends and public holidays when the figures were down 14.2 per cent from 25,697 in 2008 to just 22,055 in 2009.
Across all days the M6 Toll saw a drop in traffic of 10.7 per cent.
In the same three months the amount of money made by operators Midland Expressway was down from £149,282 in 2008 to £141,443, a fall of 5.3 per cent.
A new price rise came into effect on January 1 with motorbikes paying £2.70 on weekdays and £2.50 at weekends. Cars pay £4.70 on weekdays, and £4.50 at weekends and HGVs pay £9.40 weekdays and £9 on weekends.
John McGoldrick, spokesman for NAAT said: “Traffic will be lower on many roads due to the economy, but this road is almost empty compared with the main M6.
“The road was built to relieve congestion.”
A spokesman for the M6 Toll said: “The average daily traffic on the M6 Toll continues to be impacted by the weak UK economy and improved network capacity.”
By Shaun Lintern
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When the revenue has dropped by 5.3 percent so significantly after the toll charge increase, this has earmarked the increase is absolutely useless. A reduction of charges is desperately needed!
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“The road was built to relieve congestion.”
What a load of “Horse Feathers” ………….
This road was built to return a Profit and to do that it is utterly dependent on the “Acolytes of the great God Kar” to do so! ……. if you want reduce congestion in these overcrowded Islands you had better come up with another solution! ……………
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I would use it all the time if the price was £2 but at £4.70 they are having a laugh!!
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As per everything else in the UK they got it wrong.
The new road (Toll) should have been free therefor letting traffic bypass Birmingham and the congestion.
If they REALLY needed a Toll road then it should have been on the existing Motorway M6 between Jcn 10 and Jcn 4.
This would of stopped people using it a peak times to take children to school. Have you noticed how much easier it is on the M6 when the schools are on holiday?
But that is common sense.
What will they do to combat the loss of revenue?
Yes you are right, they will put charges up. Idiots
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The M6 Toll is quite simply a ‘Rip Off’.
Never used it, and never will. Paying for my Car tax disc is enough.
Hope they go out of business.
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Pretty well all said above. Accountants rule our businesses in this country and can rarely see past their balance sheets. Certainly nothing in their training teaches them to “speculate in order to accumulate”
I travel up the M6 on a regular basis & rarely use the Toll Road because of the exhorbitant cost. If this was more reasonable, I would regularly use it & miss out the queues.
As a good example, look at the M1 motorway in Ireland where the toll is some 60cents. No one thinks twice about avoiding it and the motorway is always busy – certainly carrying more traffic than the M6 Toll Road.
Their shareholders will never recieve the kind of dividend that they expect until the accountants learn a little about the “Law of Diminishing Returns”.
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Typical British response whenever revenues go down, increase the prices!
There are 2 solutions to this problem – 1. The Government could make an outright purchase of the road making it free to use, which of course would anger all taxpayers and rightly so – OR
2. reduce the toll to 50p for cars & motor bikes and £1 for trucks of all sizes FOREVER – this should(?) encourage vehicles to use the road to bypass the daily M6 congestion.
This toll-road should in fact have been built essentially for through-traffic. For example ALL traffic not making a visit to a town, a city etc in the West Midlands conurbation should have been COMPELLED to use the toll-road leaving the M6 for ‘local’ users etc.
Of course this would have meant that the road would be toll-free and the road being used properly.
Just commonsense isn’t it?
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Great that people want the road to be free or reduced cost. Willing to use some of their taxes to buy it though?
This is a private road. Setting the cost or making it free will cost the taxpayer. Just when government revenues are down.
I don’t bother using the toll road, thats up to me. Those that want to use it, that find it of use, they will pay.
Or use a different road.
Come on people. If you don’t like the cost of the road, don’t pay it. If you are willing to use it, accept the cost.
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You cannot relieve congestion by charging for it. The only people who will pay are those who are always sitting in congestion and it sounds like nobody is at the moment. So we have a long piece of tarmac currently doing nothing. It sounds like people have come to their senses at last and realise we pay enough for the roads so why pay more than is needed????
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make the toll road public owned then we can all use it for free and avoid the m6.!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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10 a sanders – are you willing to buy it from its owners then?
Wasn’t aware the taxpayer would want to spend more money. Maybe we can bill you instead? Or just charge local car owners?
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