It looks set that the Government are going to allow congestion charging in Manchester this means that drivers will have to pay fees to enter or leave the city. Today the plans for a two-ring scheme which is going to be charging up to £5 to enter the city centre at busy times are going to be set out making Manchester the first provincial city to follow London in introducing large-scale congestion charging.
The charge would be offset by £3bn of public transport improvements.

The reason for doing this is because that it is hoped that the scheme will reduce pollution and congestion by cutting the number of cars in the city centre.

Businessman Ken Knott who is a member of business grouping United City said that “The £1.2bn that central government are hopefully going to announce supporting the proposal is a gift from government which won’t cost the local taxpayer any money whatsoever.

The leader of Manchester City Council, Richard Leese said that “Less than 20% of motorists in Greater Manchester will pay. The choice will be first of all a first-class public transport system, secondly being able to travel at different times, and thirdly if people do have to travel at those times is that their journeys will be 20% faster. I think it’s also worth bearing in mind that over 30% of Greater Manchester households don’t have access to a car at all. And this is clearly going to vastly improve their prospects of being able to get into work and stay in work.”

It’s said that a public consultation process will be launched across Manchester if the government approves the scheme today, with the AGMA convening later in the year to vote on the proposals.

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