Use your vote!

Posted By: Wera Hobhouse
Date Posted: 28/11/2008

There is only about a week left to vote in the TIF bid referendum. Please don’t think that you are not affected by the issue because you do not drive or you do not work in Manchester, or you only go into Manchester occasionally. You are!

Here are my simple reasons why I believe we have to say yes to the TIF bid:

Public Transport in Greater Manchester is shockingly bad. About a third of our residents have no access to a private car. They are the ones who really do not have a choice, they are condemned to the wilfulness of irregular and overcrowded trains, buses that only run once every hour or so and unreasonably high fares. Nine out of ten people are not affected by the congestion charge, which is only for rush hour traffic during weekdays. But ten out of ten people would benefit from a vastly improved public transport system.

Government has offered the region a big pot of money to make the necessary improvements.
If Greater Manchester says No we will be stuck with our congested roads and terribly outdated Public Transport system for another two decades. After the recent Government spending spree which has plunged the Treasury into the red, I am pretty certain that there will be no plan B.

A vastly improved Public Transport System would give everybody a real choice, a choice that we do not have at the moment. Once proper alternatives to car use are in place, all congestion charging will do is make car use a more expensive choice. Isn’t that fair enough?

It really is your decision. Please vote!