 Are toll roads the shape of things to come? |
The government is about to announce proposals for Britain's second tolled motorway. The "pay as you go" motorway is expected to run roughly parallel to the M6 between Birmingham and Manchester - currently one of the most congested routes in the country. The four-lane 50 mile stretch of road would link up with Britain's only existing toll motorway, the M6 toll, which by-passes Birmingham. This morning, Breakfast asked whether toll roads are the shape of things to come for Britain's driversWe talked to the government's former transport advisor, Professor David Begg Begg: new roads fill up too quickly if they're free |
From his point of view, the beauty of imposing a toll on a new road is that motorists have to think twice before using it, so the road doesn't reach full capacity so quickly. "If you build an extra lane on the M25, it fills up within two or three years," he explained. "This is a smart move: it's raising extra money so it doesn't put pressure on the budget and the improvement in journey times will last for longer." We heard from the motoring organisation the AA, who fear that toll motorways may be used as a trojan horse, to sneak in further charges for motorists "There's some mileage in this if road tax and fuel tax fall," the AA's John Dawson told us. He added: "Motorists worry that it's a Trojan Horse - that the next thing is that all motorways will become tolled, without much improvement." We talked to Stephen Joseph, of the campaigning group Transport 2000 The proposed new stretch of motorway, linking Birmingham to Manchester, would be Labour's first toll motorway. The current M6 Toll was designed and planned by the previous Conservative government, although it didn't open until December 2003 At 50 miles, it would be almost twice as long as the existing M6 Toll. And charges are expected to be higher than the current toll motorway's �3 a day for cars and �11 for HGVs. Would you be prepared to pay to by-pass the jams? Whether you're for or against toll roads, the Breakfast team would like to hear your views
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|  | WATCH AND LISTEN A second toll motorway
The BBC's transport correspondent Tom Symonds reports for Breakfast
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