ChatterBank19 mins ago
How Do We Feel About Privitization Of The Roads? (Toll Roads)
I wondered what the general consensus was on this?
Is there a plan to turn any currently public owned roads into toll roads? Would this leave road users stranded? Is it only new roads?
I also wondered what you thought about toll roads - do they, for example, often offer a better driving experience? Better road surface etc?
Is there a plan to turn any currently public owned roads into toll roads? Would this leave road users stranded? Is it only new roads?
I also wondered what you thought about toll roads - do they, for example, often offer a better driving experience? Better road surface etc?
Answers
I'd be more inclined to accept a toll road system if both the road fund licence and tax on fuel were done away with. Otherwise I say 'no way, we pay enough already'.
12:32 Tue 11th Dec 2012
The M6 Toll Road is a smashing road to drive on and I don't object to paying to use it. Incidentally, the road surface is composed of remaindered and pulped Mills and Boon books.......a lesson for us all there, I think.
I don't think that (despite occasional scare stories) there is any intention to make existing roads into PAYG. I would strongly object to paying to use existing roads, even if they were upgraded.
I don't think that (despite occasional scare stories) there is any intention to make existing roads into PAYG. I would strongly object to paying to use existing roads, even if they were upgraded.
"I agree with Jack" :)
... but would also add that I'd be amazed if any genuinely private road could be built and run at a a profit - unless huge 'sweeteners' were provided by an ideologically motivated Government.
The current M6 Toll company is caught in a spiral of increasing debt- which it is attempting to reduce by ever higher toll charges, which reduce traffic, which increases debt ...
... but would also add that I'd be amazed if any genuinely private road could be built and run at a a profit - unless huge 'sweeteners' were provided by an ideologically motivated Government.
The current M6 Toll company is caught in a spiral of increasing debt- which it is attempting to reduce by ever higher toll charges, which reduce traffic, which increases debt ...
Whenever I travel North/South, and vice versa, I use M6 Toll; except for one occasion when my window was stuck and so was forced to go 'over the stilts', which was an unpleasant reminder of exactly why I use the Toll Road.
It is usually just about empty.
I'm sure that there must be greater corporate brains in operation than I am able to gain access to, but I have often wondered why none of the bean-counters have thought of reducing the tariffs thereby making it a more attractive option for road-users and increasing the uptake?
It is usually just about empty.
I'm sure that there must be greater corporate brains in operation than I am able to gain access to, but I have often wondered why none of the bean-counters have thought of reducing the tariffs thereby making it a more attractive option for road-users and increasing the uptake?
I'm also surprised by that, Jack.
It could even be done as a short term trial - 'half price for December' or whatever - which (even if it didn't double the traffic) would increase the number of people appreciating the benefits of the road & prepared to pay the 'full' price.
But I'm just a simple biker boy ...
(and boy is it good on the bike ...)
It could even be done as a short term trial - 'half price for December' or whatever - which (even if it didn't double the traffic) would increase the number of people appreciating the benefits of the road & prepared to pay the 'full' price.
But I'm just a simple biker boy ...
(and boy is it good on the bike ...)
dave, I'm guessing the 'benefits of the road' (which I've never been on) are that it's empty. Fill it up with people driving at a discount and the benefits are reduced.
If you drive down Florida, you can use the old Highway One, crawling through towns, or the interstate, or a turnpike (toll road). The turnpike is great if you just want to get somewhere in the least possible time, with no billboards and not a lot of traffic. I suspect it's the 'business class road', used by travelling salespersons and the like who can claim it on expenses (though it's not hugely expensive). But most people use the free insterstate.
However, I doubt Britain has the space to have three roads running along the same route.
If you drive down Florida, you can use the old Highway One, crawling through towns, or the interstate, or a turnpike (toll road). The turnpike is great if you just want to get somewhere in the least possible time, with no billboards and not a lot of traffic. I suspect it's the 'business class road', used by travelling salespersons and the like who can claim it on expenses (though it's not hugely expensive). But most people use the free insterstate.
However, I doubt Britain has the space to have three roads running along the same route.
You could treble the amount of traffic & it would still be virtually empty, jno.
They also have a ludicrously high toll charge for HGVs, which makes it a pleasure for car (and bike) users - but means that it is never going to serve its intended purpose of reducing the wear and tear on the old (knackered) elevated section of the M6.
They also have a ludicrously high toll charge for HGVs, which makes it a pleasure for car (and bike) users - but means that it is never going to serve its intended purpose of reducing the wear and tear on the old (knackered) elevated section of the M6.
The part of the M6 that is also served by M6Toll (notwithstanding the various junctions on/off) is the singular most frustrating part of the Midlands motorway system.
The 'stilts' were envisioned to be able to cope with the vast amounts of increased vehicular traffic as calculated by the 1960's road planners. That number of journeys had probably been exceeded before the motorway system was completed!
There is always a substantial amount of remedial work being undertaken at any given time because the construction is failing and it is only possible to patch it up.
In conversations with people, I find the single most common reason for them refusing to use the M6Toll is the fee for doing so.
The 'stilts' were envisioned to be able to cope with the vast amounts of increased vehicular traffic as calculated by the 1960's road planners. That number of journeys had probably been exceeded before the motorway system was completed!
There is always a substantial amount of remedial work being undertaken at any given time because the construction is failing and it is only possible to patch it up.
In conversations with people, I find the single most common reason for them refusing to use the M6Toll is the fee for doing so.
This doesn't surprise me. In Britain petrol is expensive but roads are free. Why pay for a road when there's a free one?
There are answers to this: because you're in a big hurry would be the main one. Or in the case of London and its congestion zone, because there's no alternative city you can go to.
How does the M6 toll work? Is it one fee for the whole thing or are there entrances and exits along the way, so you pay less for shorter trips? Are there people in booths collecting the tolls or is it all automated?
There are answers to this: because you're in a big hurry would be the main one. Or in the case of London and its congestion zone, because there's no alternative city you can go to.
How does the M6 toll work? Is it one fee for the whole thing or are there entrances and exits along the way, so you pay less for shorter trips? Are there people in booths collecting the tolls or is it all automated?
//How does the M6 toll work? Is it one fee for the whole thing or are there entrances and exits along the way, so you pay less for shorter trips?//
There is a 'Toll Plaza' where people travelling the full-length can pay. You can do this by inserting a debit card (does it automatically - no pin), throw coins into a basket or hand cash to an operative. There are illuminated signs above the lanes (about a dozen lanes) to direct to according to your choice. I think you can also pre-purchase a tag to display on your car if you are a frequent user.
The tag option is no use for me.......and the others rely on a wind-downable drivers window...LoL
There are also smaller Toll-bars at roads on/off for those only briefly using the road.
There is a 'Toll Plaza' where people travelling the full-length can pay. You can do this by inserting a debit card (does it automatically - no pin), throw coins into a basket or hand cash to an operative. There are illuminated signs above the lanes (about a dozen lanes) to direct to according to your choice. I think you can also pre-purchase a tag to display on your car if you are a frequent user.
The tag option is no use for me.......and the others rely on a wind-downable drivers window...LoL
There are also smaller Toll-bars at roads on/off for those only briefly using the road.
the Dartford crossings are going all-automatic
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-20168817
I assume that's both the bridge one way and the tunnel the other.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-20168817
I assume that's both the bridge one way and the tunnel the other.
but cheap by the standards of the Heathrow Express, say, which is about £2 per mile at the moment. The British pay a lot to get around. Perhaps this is because the country is fairly small and people don't often travel very far? Any American contemplating driving Route 66 would be horrified at a fee of $3 a mile.
If the tariffs for HGVs were more reasonable, I'm sure that the carriers running North to Felixstowe would use the route more frequently.
The route of M6, M6Toll, M6 and A14, (thus avoiding B'ham and proceeding in a more Easterly direction) makes far more logistical sense.....and would certainly shorted journey times, too.
The route of M6, M6Toll, M6 and A14, (thus avoiding B'ham and proceeding in a more Easterly direction) makes far more logistical sense.....and would certainly shorted journey times, too.
> Privitization
More hedges? More public conveniences? More hedges as public conveniences?
Sorry - to answer your question ...
No objection to paying a toll on a big bridge or tunnel or some other non-standard passage.
No objection to paying a toll on a private road (i.e. a road that is not publicly owned).
No objection to paying a toll on a road that has a public, free alternative which is not a significantly longer distance.
Otherwise, I object.
More hedges? More public conveniences? More hedges as public conveniences?
Sorry - to answer your question ...
No objection to paying a toll on a big bridge or tunnel or some other non-standard passage.
No objection to paying a toll on a private road (i.e. a road that is not publicly owned).
No objection to paying a toll on a road that has a public, free alternative which is not a significantly longer distance.
Otherwise, I object.
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