‘Don’t punish people trying to get to work’
DRIVERS HAVE THEIR SAY ON POSSIBLE CLEAN-AIR CHARGE
THE M.E.N. we revealed yesterday how taxis, HGVs, buses and drivers of some older, most polluting cars could soon be charged to enter the city centre.
It’s part of a move to drastically improve air quality across the region.
Town hall bosses hope it will urgently cut pollution – linked to at least 1,000 premature deaths in Manchester each year – to legal levels by 2021.
Charges are being considered for diesel cars older than three years, plus most HGVs and buses, along with potential charging or restrictions on some vehicles entering other outlying dirty air blackspots.
There’s understood to be considerable nervousness among town hall chiefs about the suggestion.
And it’s sparked a massive debate among M.E.N. readers. Here’s what some of you have said on our website and Facebook page...
I run a small business that repairs office equipment. I have been doing this for 30 years. The roads in Manchester are worse than ever. If they start charging it’s time for me and the business to call it a day we quite bluntly can’t afford it anymore Manchester will lose services and the city centre will become a no go zone.
Has anyone ever been behind an old Stagecoach bus or Magic bus? They are nearly all more than five years old, belching fumes out. These are the first things that should be looked at. It’s the buses that need to pay the charge. Manchester. I drive a sevenyear-old diesel car and can’t afford to change my car at the moment, I certainly couldn’t afford a charge each day to take her to work.
We’ve already voted against a Congestion Charge. Until there is a serious alternative to driving – i.e. public transport fit for purpose – people will drive. Don’t punish people trying to get to work, provide a viable alternative.
Apart from banning traffic from the city centre, it’s the only other option that comes close. I wonder how many people who currently drive would actually find it cheaper and faster to get in on public transport. I pay £86 a month for the train, couldn’t pay for parking for that! picture. The population is increasing, car ownership is increasing. It would be lovely if we could all drive our cars to work but that isn’t a realistic option. People are selfish and won’t inconvenience themselves taking public transport. So make them! Bring in the Congestion Charge.
They don’t have a choice, they have to do something that will improve air quality in the areas central government have specified (not just the city centre) and it’s not just in Manchester. It may be a charge or it could be something else, but it will be something and not everyone will be happy with it.
The predominant winds in Manchester are westerly, so a lot of our pollution is actually Scouse. Just charge them. Problem solved.