Motoring
Almost two thirds of motorists would like to see more local authorities follow the example of Manchester City Council and scrap plans to introduce congestion charging during the current economic downturn according to a new survey by Motorpoint.
The online poll of over 1,400 people by the UK car supermarket giant comes as the people of Greater Manchester voted in their hundreds of thousands against a scheme that would have charged people up to £5 a day to drive into Manchester city centre. If the proposal had received the green light, it would have created an 80 square mile congestion zone.
Congestion charging would appear to be rapidly going out of fashion, with Boris Johnson only recently scrapping a planned extension to the London congestion zone introduced last year by his predecessor, Ken Livingstone. Plans for similar schemes in Bristol, Cambridge and Leeds could now follow a similar fate.
Says David Shelton, Managing Director of Motorpoint: “It is difficult enough to convince people of the benefits of congestion charging at the best of times but with the country in the middle of a downturn, our poll clearly shows that drivers have had enough of such schemes and are calling on local authorities to look at alternative ways of reducing congestion on Britain’s roads.â€
This just goes to show how powerful we motorists can be if we all join forces.
Jackie Violet Female First