Zones, Times and Charges - up to £100 to drive to work every month

The Greater Manchester congestion charging zone takes in the enitre inner M60 area. It will have two rings, you pay when you cross each one. Please visit: http://www.gmfuturetransport.co.uk/consultation/rings/ to see the rings.

Peak time charges

4PM - 6.30PM
Crossing the inner ring outbound   £1
Crossing the outer ring outbound   £1

That’s up to £100 every month or up to £1,200 a year if your commute takes you through both rings. For most of us, changing our working hours simply isn’t possible, so we will have to find an additional £1,200 just to drive to work.

With the average take home wage in Greater Manchester of around £1,200 a month, that’s a month's pay. That just can’t be fair or sensible when traffic hasn't increased on local roads in fifteen years and lower cost, environmentally-sound alternatives are still to be explored.

Why you should Vote NO to the Congestion Charge

It could cost you up to £100 every month or £1200 every year - just to use your car.

Too big - Current proposals would create the world’s largest congestion charging zone - the entire area within the M60 motorway - that's 80sq miles compared to the original London zone of 8sq miles and zones of 11sq miles in Stockolm and 2sq miles in Rome and Singapore.

Not effective - Over such a large area, we simply don't believe the promised improvements will make public transport a practical, cheap, door-to-door alternative to the car for most of us.

Wrong focus - Improvements focus very heavily on routes into and out of the city centre, but most of us don't actually work there. This means we would face long, complex journeys via the centre to reach our destination or pay the charge.

Knock on costs for you - Even if you don’t drive, additional costs to business will be passed on to you through shops, pubs and other outlets.

Risk of higher charges and taxes - We will borrow £1.2 billion to pay for the current proposals. It is hoped the congestion charge will pay back this debt, but our councils refuse to release figures to support this. If the numbers don't add up, we still have to repay the debt which could come from higher charges or increased council tax.

No guarantees - There are no guarantees on charging times, pricing or zone boundaries. In London after just two years, the zone's size doubled and charges rose by 60%. Our councils' own documents refer to possible future charging schemes in Bolton, Bury, Wigan, Rochdale, Oldham, Ashton, Stockport and Altrincham.

Out on our own - Edinburgh, Birmingham, Norwich and Cambridge have already said No to congestion charging, current proposals will make Greater Manchester a uniquely expensive place to live and work.

Not the only solution - There are many unexplored alternative ways to reduce congestion and fund transport improvements that would not require a charge, we must explore them fully.

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