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5:18 pm, November 6, 2008
One in three to pay congestion charge, say TIF opponents
By Simon Binns
Opponents of the proposed Greater Manchester congestion charging scheme claim two seperate surveys by polling companies show that one in three residents will have to pay the charge.
According to the Stop the Charge campaign, an Ipsos MORI survey of 5,000 Greater Manchester residents, commissioned by the Association of Greater Manchester Authorities as part of its research into the £2.7bn Transport Innovation Fund package, showed 1,474 (29 per cent) would cross “at least one” of the proposed charging rings during peak hours.
The same survey also found one in five peak road users would have to pay the full £6 charge to cross both rings in both directions in peak traffic.
IPSOS Mori asked people if generally, in the hours when the charge would apply, they travelled in the Greater Manchester area by car, van or lorry, either as driver or passenger.
Fifty-three per cent (2,647) said they drove at this time. These people were then asked if they crossed any combination of the charging rings during peak hours, to which 67 per cent (1,773) said they would.
A separate survey of 5,000 residents by independent polling company Populus, commissioned by the Stop the Charge coalition, showed 29 per cent of people expect they will have to pay regularly.
A Stop the Charge spokesman said: “We have repeatedly heard that nine out of 10 people won’t pay the congestion charge. This claim is completely misleading and must be withdrawn.
“AGMA’s own poll shows around a third of residents will pay. Our survey supports this. It is common sense to assume that many households will be hit twice as the average home now has more than one car.
“We urge people to vote no in the referendum.”
A spokesman from The Yes Campaign said: “We are a little surprised but warmly welcome the fact that even the No campaign accepts that the vast majority of people won’t be affected by the congestion charge.
“The Ipsos MORI survey refers to exclusively to the number of people who believed they would be charged when questioned in July before the proposals were finalised. However when you examine the official transport movement figures which take account of car journeys out of peak and the 40 per cent of commutes that are by public transport it is clear that 9 out of 10 people won’t pay.
“If people have doubts, they don’t have to take our word for it; they should simply ask themselves whether they drive into or out of Manchester during the charging period.”
Lord Peter Smith, Leader of AGMA, said: “In response to the misleading claims made by GMMG regarding the findings of the Ipsos MORI survey, I would simply state they have got the figures wrong in the most basic of ways.
“The figures they use, stating 2,647 people cross the rings at peak times, include not just drivers - but passengers as well - who will not pay any form of charge. Therefore the basis of their claim and their ability to read and analyse simple data must be called into question.
“If they are going to misinterpret data like this can we really trust anything they say?"
Comments? sbinns@crain.com
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