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Follow TURFReport: 'Toll roads not the answer to congestion'
From the second article below: "'Toll roads are not, and will never be, a solution to congestion on Britain's roads, no matter how attractive they may appear to cash-strapped politicians desperate to deliver otherwise unaffordable road schemes," the report concludes."
Can toll roads ever work?
A report into Britain's first major toll road claims it is an "expensive failure", doing little to ease congestion.
By David Millward, Transport Editor
London Daily Telegraph
31 Aug 2010
The conclusions may be a matter of debate, but at the very least the report suggests that British motorists are a pretty mean bunch.
A road to help motorists dodge the worst of traffic around Birmingham seemed a no-brainer. Surely drivers would shell out a few quid rather than be stuck bumper to bumper during the rush hour.
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M6 toll road 'has failed'
Apparently not.
The number of motorists using the toll road has fallen back to where it started, the project is costing Macquarie a shedload of cash and congestion on the M6 is back where it was when the project started.
This poses a few interesting questions. If the Government can't afford to build roads, will the private sector step in?
The answer is probably no, unless they can be guaranteed a return – which is probably why in an unguarded moment the head of Macquarie plaintively wished for congestion to get worse on the M6.
French motorists seem to accept that their credit cards are going to take a hammering when they use the autoroutes – as do British tourists heading to the sun.
When I drive in the US, I always have a mountain of quarters to pay tolls which are a part of everyday life.
This will only happen in Britain if a Government is prepared to handle the outcry if we start charging for using all our motorways.
And that would be a "very brave" decision, bordering on political suicide.
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Link to article here.
Toll relief road 'has failed' report claims
A privately-built toll road, which was hailed as the answer to congestion on Britain's motorways, has been an expensive failure according to a new study published today.
By David Millward, Transport Editor
London Daily Telegraph
31 Aug 2010
Traffic jams around Birmingham are at least as bad as they were before the road was opened as motorists refuse to pay to use the 27-mile stretch which was intended to end gridlock on the M6.
The report by the Campaign for Better Transport, an environmental group, comes at a time when the Coalition has said it believes that private investment will be needed to pay for more motorways.
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The M6 toll road, which runs around the north west of Birmingham, opened in December 2003. It was designed to take some pressure off one the busiest stretches of the motorway in Britain.
When it opened, drivers were charged £2 to use the road. A series of above inflation increases has seen the bill rise to £5.
This has coincided with the number of motorists willing to pay falling dramatically, the study says.
In the spring of 2006 it attracted just under 60,000 drivers a day. By the start of this year, the figure had fallen to just over 40,000, marginally more than when the toll opened.
Those who are willing to pay can enjoy a far quicker journey during the rush hour, especially when traveling southbound when using the relief road takes around 40 minutes - about half the time needed on the M6.
But at other times the time saving is marginal - in many cases little more than five minutes. This, the Campaign says, means the toll is poor value for the motorists.
Meanwhile there is little evidence of congestion easing significantly on the M6 itself, the report says. Any gains which might have been made have been eroded by steadily increasing traffic levels.
The Campaign says that the Highways Agency itself has admitted that by 2008 traffic levels on the stretch of the M6 running parallel to the toll road were as they were before it opened.
"The M6 Toll has provided so little congestion relief that the Highways Agency has been forced to allocate hundreds of millions of pounds for additional capacity," the report adds.
Proposals include allowing cars to use the hard shoulder during the rush hour. But this, according to the Campaign, would cost between £300 to £500 million.
"Toll roads are not, and will never be, a solution to congestion on Britain's roads, no matter how attractive they may appear to cash-strapped politicians desperate to deliver otherwise unaffordable road schemes," the report concludes.
However an AA spokesman defended the M6 toll road. "Drivers who use it are happy to pay the premium, because it avoids the horribly lorry-congested M6.
"Macquarie who built the toll described it as one of the jewels in the crown. The drop in traffic has been a reflection of the economic situation.
"It will be very useful when the economy improves and does have a major role to play in the national network."
A Department for Transport spokesman added. "The construction of a privately funded and operated toll road was not the only answer to cutting congestion on the M6.
"While it is making a contribution, the Government is also considering other transport initiatives to ease congestion such as hard shoulder running schemes and the development of a national high-speed rail network with the first route running between London and the West Midlands."
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Link to the story here.
Toll roads are no answer to congestion, says campaign group
Tuesday, 31 August 2010
The M6 Toll in the West Midlands has been a costly failure and the Government should not rely on toll roads to solve transport problems, according to a new report released today by Campaign for Better Transport.
Earlier this year Transport Secretary Philip Hammond signaled an interest in using tolls to pay for future road building schemes, most of which are expected to be halted after the October spending review. However, this report shows the 27-mile toll motorway has failed to provide any significant congestion relief for the original M6 and the price, which has been increased significantly year on year, is bad value for drivers who use the toll.
Despite the toll now charging motorists £5 on weekdays – the initial cost was £2 – the report shows that operator Midland Expressway Ltd, a subsidiary of the international infrastructure group Macquarie, is losing tens of millions every year and has written down the value of the road to below its cost. Meanwhile, M6 congestion is now so bad that the Government is considering spending another £500m on it to deal with the problems the toll road was supposed to solve.
Richard George, Campaign for Better Transport’s Roads and Climate Campaigner, said: “The research shows that the toll road has failed to cut congestion on the original M6 and has made big losses for its operator. With Government coffers running empty, it is no surprise that politicians are looking at toll roads as a way to deliver funds for new road building projects. But our research shows that private toll roads such as the M6 Toll don’t help motorists or the surrounding area, and don’t make money for investors either.
“Instead, the Government needs to spend scarce public funds on maintaining the roads we have and giving people good alternatives to car use.”
Key findings of the report
M6 Toll: bad for the West Midlands
• The toll road has failed to significantly cut congestion on the M6.
• Traffic which once used the toll is now returning to the M6, making congestion worse at peak times.
• Traffic has increased dramatically at either end of the toll, causing more congestion.
• Half a billion pounds of additional capacity is planned to relieve congestion on the M6 that the M6 Toll
was supposed to deal with.
M6 Toll: bad for drivers
• Journey times on the M6 are only slightly better than before the toll opened.
• Outside of peak times, journeys on the M6 Toll are not much faster than on the M6.
• Average time savings were between 7 and 12 minutes in the opening year.
• The cost of the toll has risen sharply each January, well above inflation.
• The toll road’s operators are exploring ways to charge more at peak times.
M6 Toll: bad for investors
• Midland Expressway Ltd has lost around £26 million a year since the toll opened.
• Revenue has been in steady decline, as traffic on the toll has been falling since 2006.
• The toll road’s value has plummeted, from A$2.2bn in 2008 to A$412m in 2009 (the parent company
is Australian).
• Even when the toll was busiest (when there were major roadworks on the M6), MEL was still losing
millions of pounds a year.
And finally
According to the report, Steve Allen, the chief executive of Macquarie Infrastructure Group (MEL’s parent company), told an Australian newspaper that “What we need is to slow down the M6” to make the toll road more attractive...
To see the 12-page report, go to
www.headlineauto.co.uk