RHA Recovery Group says "Give us a break Mr Livingstone"
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Manchester's Congestion Charge Plans are "Fatally Flawed" says RHA
The Road Haulage Association believes that the Association of Greater Manchester Authorities' (AGMA) proposals for a Transport Innovation Fund bid are fundamentally flawed because of the intention to impose a congestion charge on goods vehicle operators.
The RHA acknowledges that the specific intention of the proposed congestion charge is to change people's decisions about the way that they travel, but stresses that the movement of freight is a completely different issue that cannot be influenced in the same manner. Despite this, the AGMA intends to impose a congestion charge on goods vehicles.
According to RHA Northern Regional Director, Geoff Dunning, "We regard this as totally unjustified and object strongly to the decision to add to the already excessive tax burden that the UK's haulage industry must bear. The AGMA report makes very little mention of the many significant issues that relate specifically to freight, but are not relevant to passengers, and the RHA is concerned that the decision to impose the tax on lorries is very much an afterthought in their planning."
The Association firmly believes that the decision to impose charges on lorries is totally unjustified and is setting out its reasons for this view in detail to AGMA.
The RHA will also present their objections to the attention of the Department for Transport, who will be considering any bid for Transport Innovation Fund support.
The RHA's formal response to the AGMA report, addresses AGMA's failure to justify the charge on trucks in relation to their own seven principles:
- Environment - by their own admission, freight traffic will not be significantly affected by the charge, so this is not relevant to trucks.
- Social Inclusion - this is not applicable to freight traffic.
- Price Signals - the report shows that AGMA do not understand the trade-offs that dictate operational decisions in freight movements.
- Targeting Journeys - the report fails to reflect the contribution that trucks make to the economy of Greater Manchester.
- Cost-effective - we accept that any charging scheme that applies to passenger transport must be cost effective.
- Competitiveness - the charge will have a direct negative impact on freight deliveries both inside and outside the charging area.
- Ease of use - we accept that any charging scheme that applies to passenger transport must be easy to use.
In addition to the above, the RHA points out that AGMA has not addressed the issue of traffic diverting on to the M60 as a consequence of traffic seeking to avoid the congestion charge, nor has it made any reference to the impact of traffic accessing Park and Ride facilities at or near to the M60. Neither has AGMA taken into account the fact that many of the major investment projects that are proposed will significantly reduce available road space for traffic that elects to pay the charge. The RHA also draws attention to the fact that goods vehicles traffic represents a small proportion of the total traffic on Manchester's primary arterial routes, and so is not responsible for significant amounts of congestion.
The RHA is disappointed that AGMA chose not to consult the freight industry when designing its scheme for road charging, and believes that AGMA has not made any real effort to publicise the impact that their plans will have on the movement of freight in, and hence the success of the economy of, Greater Manchester.
