M6 Toll road ‘isn’t working’
Tuesday 31st August 2010, 6:36AM BST.
Private toll roads are not a cost-effective answer to traffic problems, the government has been told.
A report by the Campaign for Better Transport said the UK’s only private motorway toll, the M6 Toll, had not significantly cut congestion.
Its owners, Midland Expressway, lose tens of millions of pounds a year on the road, campaigners said.
The Campaign for Better Transport argued that journey times on the M6 were only slightly better than before the toll opened nearly seven years ago, and drivers were put off using the road by the charge of £5 per car.
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Motorists and Transport are hammered from all directions. How else can we protest? The taxes collected on petrol and car tax should,
and I say ‘should’ advisedly, give us the best road system in the World. Could we have some POSITIVE thinking to make travelling easier instead of the negative ‘Let’s Punish Them’ approach?
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That Toll Road was never going to pay because it was done the wrong way round.
The ”Toll Road” should have been free so people could bypass Brum and the M6 between junctions 10 and 4 should have been tolled, if tolling IS necessary, to stop people using it as a short cut for ”school runs” etc. The M6 is always easier to use during school holidays.
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Spot on!! The problem with the M6 has always been the mixing of through-Midland traffic with local traffic using the M6 for short distances. Tolling the original M6 would have encouraged people to use the various local public transport options available which would have done far more to reduce congestion.
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Richard, I understand your logic but it wouldn’t have have encourage people to look at public transport alternatives. It would have encouraged them to look at alternative routes instead using A & B roads, cutting through housing estates and passed schools. The fact is, people like using their cars. Busses & trains are slow and inconvenient.
Just read all of the comments on here that are anti M6 Toll. They would not be happy with any roads having tolls. Particularly if they had previously been able to drive on that road for free.
I genuinely wish that there was a form of public transport available that could get me to work quickly and for a reasonable price but it doesn’t currently exist and I doubt it ever will. No amount of investment in public transport would help me!
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The M6 Toll has done exactly what it was introduced to do!
Motorists have a choice to either;
1). Sit in traffic or dawdle along at walking pace whilst ruining your car’s suspension on all of the potholes on the M6 (Free)
2). Pay a premium and travel at 70mph anytime of the day or night on high quality road surface on the M6 toll.
I appreciate that it may not sit comfortably with the socialist fraternity who think it is unfair that the more privilaged in society are able to opt for a better service. They want high class roads for all, but remember these two points.
a). The cost of the M6 Toll is actually good value and will SAVE the average motorist money because of the fuel savings of not being stop/start for 30 miles not to mention the time saving which can be quite considerable!
b). The previous Labour government had plenty of time to do something about the roads, instead they RAISED road tax at an astonishing rate which is crucifying our haulage industry which is in turn forceing up prices in the shops, yet they have done nothing to improve the quality of our road network.
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The M6 Toll loses tens of millions for its operators every year. It certainly wasn’t designed to do that !
No company can afford to simply throw money away, and since they’re not the first to fail – I predict that the Toll Road will pass into Government hands, sooner or later.
At that point, someone will need to explain why all the other government-owned motorways and relief roads aren’t tolls, too.
Labour only increased Road Tax for those whose cars pollute the most. On the principle that the polluter pays for the damage they’re causing – that seems perfectly reasonable to me. If you can’t afford it, then I suggest you buy a small modern car which may be zero-rated for Road Tax.
As for crucifying our haulage industry – as you point out yourself, they’re just passing through the costs to the shops. Does that mean higher prices ? Not really. Since most stuff is now imported from low-cost countries, the cost of most consumables has plummeted in the last few years.
Finally, the best way to improve our road network is to improve our rail network. That would mean less congestion on the roads, less need for constant repair – and by-the-by less CO2. The railways are, of course, a shambles. That would be because private companies are there to extract profit, not provide a service, nor invest in the country’s infrastructure for the common good. I suggest nationalisation.
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Your holier than thou amuses me!
Yes it would be magical if there were no need for cars because the train would stop at the end of my street and drop me off at the factory and all for the price of a pound of apples! But that is just a fantasy that you need to get over. It ‘aint going to happen!
You make a comment, “most stuff is now imported from low-cost countries”
Indeed, each year more and more is being imported but that is because the cost of producing in the UK has become unrealistic under a Labour regeme. Haulage costs are part of this and I’m amazed that you are unable to comprehend this.
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people use is as a short cut because there is no alternative.
Try getting from M6-J9 to M5-J1 without joining the motorway. You need to either go pretty much around the entire boundary of West Bromwich or cut through an hell of a lot of housing estates.
Getting from M6-J10 – M6-J9 requires you to either go through the centre of Walsall of down some narrow backstreet’s blind bends and tight bridges.
M6-J11 – M6-J10 either going down a long country lane with an inappropriate number of speed cameras followed by Bloxwich high street or through short heath passing a number of primary schools a secondary school and a narrow canal bridge.
Such a stupid suggestion would grind Walsall to a complete halt.
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The problem with the M6 Toll is that it is overpriced fot the distance. For a similar price in France on one of their toll roads you would travel a hundred miles or more. The Toll price should come down to a more realistic level, say £2 for cars and £5 for Trucks, then we would perhaps see a reduction in traffice on the M6.
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And there you have it. The positive thinking of Martin No.5 as against the negative of Stuart No.3. Thank you gentlemen for proving my point.
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On the contrary, I believe that private investment in our highways infrastructure is a very positive thing.
I just think that the reason Labour neglected the roads so badly is because they WANTED private companies to build and maintain roads. It meant that they wouldn’t have the cost of doing it!
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yes i agree,the tolls should be cheaper like france,,but once again its welcome to rip of britain..a good idea in principle only to be overcharged and ripped off as usual..
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You do realise that the BNRR is run by the same company who run toll roads in France and Europe?
Don’t be mislead by the name ‘Midland Express Ltd’ They are actually owned by ‘Macquarie Atlas Roads’ who run toll roads all round the world.
Put roads in the hands of private companies and people are shocked when they up the prices!
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I also think people are missing the bigger picture here. The country is run by fat cats in London and by MP’s who have to travel back and forth to London all the time.
They were happy to allow the toll road to be built so they themselves can by pass anywhere where they might get held up by us common peasants (and we pay their expenses to do it). Same reason why the M40 was built which only supplies 1 major town unlike all the other motorways. Its a route into London without hold ups.
The toll road was originally designed to reduce congestion but they changed it to be a red carpet for the rich instead. If they don’t have to sit in the congestion they can pretend that it doesn’t exist and spend all there transport budget on their precious M25.
This is also the reason why the Weston relief road was scrapped why would Londoners care about those from the north going to the South West. They have the M4 for that.
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Actually I think you’re being generous when you say it was originally designed to reduce congestion.
I suspect that it was designed as an experiment to see whether profit could be made from Brits willing to pay to avoid congestion.
We’ve given an answer. Which is why there haven’t been any more such experiments.
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3, im sorry but £5 a car is ridiculous and if youre happy paying that then youre a fool.
its once again rip off Britain at its best.
im sure our governments are just trying to break some kind of record for how many “worlds highest” tax systems they can achieve
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I understand that you think £5 is expensive but it cheaper for me to use the M6 Toll and drive at a constant 70 mph than to be sat on the M6 in start/stop/start trafic for 3 times longer. This saving is based on the fact I actually us more than a gallon extra of fuel on the M6.
On that basis, I am not a fool because I save time, spend less money and create less CO2 emissions.
Staying on the M6 in my opinion is actually false economy. The problem is that people begrudge paying to drive on a road because they feel that by taxing their car they should be entitled to a reasonable standard of travel. Unfortunately the government didn’t agree with you.
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is anyone surprised at this headline ???
what a complete waste of money and ruined a nice piece of green belt, despite no one wanting it in the first place, when will the powers that be actually listen for a change !!!
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Of course there might be more people using the Toll Road if it were properly signposted. At present it only informs the motorist (not familiar with the area) that it goes to Lichfield and Cannock.
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If the powers that be were serious about cutting congestion in the Midlands then the toll road would’ve been free from day one. Instead they saw pound signs and foolishly hoped the public would pay any price to avoid the 10-20 mile queues between Cannock and Birmingham.
They were wrong and it was never going to happen. The company who run it are losing tens of millions per year and the folk who sit in the queues many times that amount.
The only way forward is to open the road up for free. Or at least price it fairly, a few pound at most.
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