To think we need a congestion charge in every major city?

[impossiblecat]

The traffic is getting insane.

It's dangerous and bad for everyone's health.

With the exception of the disabled and people who live within the limits of said congestion zone, obviously.

I'd have all money raised ploughed into public transport.

And I'm not suggesting a CC anywhere near you.

BIG cities. Manchester, Birmingham, Newcastle, Leeds, York, Sheffield. We have trams, underground systems, park and rides, established, regular buses, trains, light railway... in those cities. Yet people STILL insist on driving in from suburbia. It stinks, literally.

And you're still not listening to other people, who aren't talking about the suburbs of Birmingham.

Good public transport inside cities doesn't help the people who live outside of those cities. So, not suburbia, but the outlying villages/towns/hamlets that have no transport links.

I am listening. Those are the people who will pay the charge.

Commutable villages near big cities are rarely poor. You want to live somewhere lovely and green AND pollute my home? Pay up..

I’m going to be making a journey regularly so thought I would go by train today.

Should have taken 40 mins going, it was 1hr20 mins.

Should have taken the same coming back. After three hours, two changes and nowhere near, I got a cab.

Guess how I’m travelling next time?

I live in a fairly poor town between two big cities. We have no train station. To get anywhere without driving takes a lot of planning.

Not everyone who lives out of big cities is rich

Then surely we make cities more pedestrian and bike friendly ?

You want to live somewhere lovely and green AND pollute my home?

Commuter belts are still cheaper and better value for money than inner city housing, especially for families. It's not their fault there is no public transport connecting the two, is there?

You should be campaigning for better public transport outside of the major cities, connecting outlying villages and towns to their nearest city on a regular basis throughout the year. If they can do it in London, they can do it elsewhere, it's just they don't prioritise it. London had great public transport BEFORE the congestion charge, so why should other places have to pay the CC without the option of decent transport?

How would people feel about a ban on combustion engines in city centres? Hybrid and Electric vehicles only. Give everyone 3 years' notice, most people will adapt. If drivers want to sit in congestion, that's their 'choice' (limited public transport options aside). But at least they're not damaging people's lungs.

I always think it's a bit twisted that the people who complain about congestion the most are the drivers

Ye because everyone will be able to afford to buy a brand new/nearly new car within three years won’t tjey!

Jacques I was similar going to visit family at the weekend- would have been 45 mins by car, nooo l thought, I'll train it, have a glass of wine, (or 3) 3 hrs 10 minutes it took me!

I challenge anyone to find poverty within the greenbelts of any major city. It's not there. It's commuterville and downright expensive commuterville.

Newcastle - Gateshead. Far more patchwork than you suggest, with affluent areas and estates/poorly maintained terraced housing both centrally and in the outskirts. You can turn a corner from the street full of rambling Edwardian detached houses and soon find yourself in a street full of tyneside flats with half the windows boarded up. The bus to some of these estates takes as long to get there as it takes me to get home to my own city, further south.

And villages and small towns in the North East have their own fair share of poverty. Many of these are ex mining communities. It was £7 return into town from the mining village I moved from, last year. Almost £4 for children. Very little employment within the village.

And what about places like the Wirral just outside Liverpool? Affluent in parts, extremely deprived in others.

As for the metro system in Tyne and Wear, it has a very small reach and misses out the whole of the west end of Newcastle. It's also still using 40 year old rolling stock and suffers from frequent power outages because the infrastructure is so old and inadequate. Most of the line between Gateshead and South shields was down on Saturday morning. I had a guy sat behind me on the bus I was on in a panic because he had to get to a medical in Jesmond. It should have been an easy walk from the metro but had no idea what bus to get and where from. And he was going to be an hour late, already.

Who would want to be reliant on a transport system that has this happen, somewhere or other, almost every day? That call centre, care home or supermarket needs its low paid workers to be in on time and certainly isn't going to be offering more flexible working practices. Sorry, Ethel, you'll have to lie in your own shit all night because there's no night bus, so no staff can come in and take care of you.

People who live in commuter towns outside cities drive to park and rides and then get quick, efficient, clean public transport in to the city.
I'm you OP and in my opinion it's only a matter of time.
I live in one of the cities the OP mentions. You're right though, public transport needs huge investment before this happens.

Leafy that’s one of the funniest most deluded posts I’ve ever read. We’ve just bought a new second hand car. The cleanest we could find for under £20 k that would fit our family in was a 2 year old cat 6 diesel. We’d love an electric car, we can’t afford one. We’re not poor. Many many people will be in no position to buy electric in 3 years.😂😂😂😂

And I woukd far rather have a hydrogen cell car as they’re cleaner. Lithium mining needed for batteries isn’t great for those who live near by but hey who cares if your city is ok. We also don’t have the infrastructure for electric. If everybody has electric cars and plugs in at night we will struggle to cope. We will need more power stations- really environmentally friendly.

People saying the congestion charge has made no or little difference in London - actually it has:

www.citymetric.com/transport/london-congestion-charge-has-been-huge-success-it-s-time-change-it-3751

I refuse to believe there are loads of people living in poverty and driving into the center of Birmingham, Manchester, Leeds etc from the countryside to work.

Totally agree, with the emphasis on 'most'. People talking here about improving infrastructures are being idealistic and unrealistic. Hit the selfish drivers where it hurts, I say. It's a joke that the congestion charge in London is only £11.50.

Have you bothered to read anybody’s post or indeed all of your link.,London was provided with a large number of buses before it took place in preparation. Uber and private car hire has soared as they are exempt. Traffic has slowed hugely and thus bus usage. Rich Londoners just swap their own car for taxis, those big in that bracket have better bus facilities.

2006 traffic was reduced by 30%.
2018 the figure is creeping back up hence tfl and the London Assembly are looking at other options.

Taxi journeys figure in the traffic numbers, surely?

There's a fab bus network in the major city I live in, as there is in Leeds, Liverpool and Bristol. It's not just in London.

Bugger that. My partner and I have had to get the bus this week due to car being in garage. £3.90 each, each way and that's for a 7 mile journey. Diesel usually costs £20 per week and we have free parking at work

OP, YANBU. This needs to be done, yesterday.

There's also the issue that sometimes you have to drive through the middle of a city even if you'd rather not. I often have to travel about 15 miles to an office the other side of Nottingham. The choice is to go through the middle of Nottingham to get over the Trent or travel another 13 miles to get over the Trent at the next bridge along.