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Congestion charge to 'save lives'
Date published: 03/10/2008
A Transport Innovation Fund working group has claimed that an estimated 135 lives will be saved if the proposed congestion charge is introduced into Greater Manchester.
The Greater Manchester NHS TIF working group believes deaths will be avoided if improvements are made to public transport.
And the efforts to lower congestion on the streets of Greater Manchester will bring other health benefits, with reduced pollution, fewer road traffic accidents and increased levels of cycling and walking.
The TIF bid would see £3billion invested in Greater Manchester's public transport but after the improvements have been made a central Manchester rush-hour congestion charge will be introduced.
However, NHS staff at Pennine Acute Trust, which runs Rochdale Infirmary, voted a resounding 'no' on the TIF proposals in an internal referendum and yesterday a Rochdale Online sample poll revealed that 77% of people in Rochdale are against congestion charging.
Have Your Say
You could also argue that an increase in pedestrian numbers when more people walk to catch public transport will lead to an increase in pedestrian casualties, especially in the dark winter mornings and evening rush hours.
I'll bet they can't show the working out!
Peter, are you really suggesting that one bus carrying 40 people is more polluting than 40 cars each carrying one person? And which do you think would cause more congestion?
I used to drive, but now I use public transport and I've worked out I'm more than a grand a year better off. With fuel, energy and food prices going up, I'm sure there's lots of people who'd like to ditch their cars and spend the money on heating their homes and feeding their families instead.
I'm not saying there are not benefits to public transport - when you live on route and don't have to change. When you require 3 to 4 changes and it take best part of two hours to complete what is a 40 minute (or less) journey in a car, it is simply not viable. More than that, we are not being given a choice. We are asked to vote on this before there is a public transport system in place - a true pig in a poke.
Inverdale.
The average UK bus carries 9.2 people/km and the average car 1.6. Modern cars do 45mpg and a bus 4mpg, so you need 15 or more people/km to make a bus less polluting than a car and this will not happen.
Big diesels on a stop/start cycle are a problem. The air quality around the bus station is poor because of the buses, not cars.
Public transport needs improving but we pay more than enough taxes already and it should not be subsidised by drivers but the passengers who use it.
John, you're right that we're being asked to vote on this before the public transport system is in place, but at least we know we'd get most of the investment up front before the congestion charge starts in 2013. Most people (even Peter) want better public transport, and I reckon this is the best chance there is of getting it.
Peter, you can try to blind us with statistics, but I think it's a pretty safe bet that the average bus at rush hour in Rochdale carries more than 9.2 passengers, and the average car stuck in traffic does less than 45 mpg.
And you go on to argue that public transport should only be subsidised by passengers. Does that mean you think the NHS should only be subsidised by patients, or schools should only be subsidised by parents?
No more or less people will die if this goes through or if it doesn't. It's all lies and spin by the PRO charge consortium, who have a seemingly limitless amount of OUR cash to spend on worthless surveys like this one in a vain attempt to make people vote for another tax which will affect EVERYBODY, not just the peak time driver.
Your pint, coffee, CDs, clothes, etc. will ALL increase in price so that the companies can cover the extra cost of delivery.
More spin and twaddle coming from the yes campaign?
Better air quality?
More pollution from more buses adding to the problem. The area around Piccadilly bus station is already the second most polluted area in the country - after the bus station in Oxford.
Buses are the biggest gas guzzlers of them all.
Desperation is setting in when the very people they claim to represent are opposed to the charge by 77%
By Peter Roberts - Drivers' Alliance @ 03/10/2008 12:32:50
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