FAQ
Below are some of the more frequently asked questions about our plans.
If you have a question that isn’t answered here you can ring our free phone number 0800 234 6100.
These questions and answers will be reviewed regularly to reflect the questions the free phone number generates.
- How do I cast my vote?
- What is the deadline for returning my ballot paper?
- Can’t we just take the £1.5bn on offer, not borrow any extra money and not have a congestion charge?
- What does it mean when you say you get a low paid discount?
- I am an employee at Trafford Park – will I have to pay the congestion charge?
- Will I see a change in my public transport fares because of TIF?
- When would the investment and charging be introduced?
- How can we be sure that the improvements would be in place before charging is introduced?
- How much would congestion be reduced by the proposals?
- Would it affect drivers who stay on the M60?
- Would it operate like the London congestion zone?
- What is the location of the inner ring to drive in to Greater Manchester
- What will I pay?
- Will the TIF make public transport safer?
- How do I cast my vote?
Postal voting packs will be sent to everybody who is eligible to vote in late November 2008. Further information about who to contact if you don't receive your ballot paper pack will be posted on the Tif Referendum Website www.tifreferendumreturningofficer.com
Back to top - What is the deadline for returning my ballot paper?
You need to return your ballot paper to the Returning Officer by no later than 10pm on Thursday 11 December. If you have left it too late to post you can also deliver your vote in person to one of a number of delivery points across Greater Manchester on 11 December.
Back to top - Can’t we just take the £1.5bn on offer, not borrow any extra money and not have a congestion charge?
The TIF package is just that - a package- and one element is not available without the other. The Department for Transport (DfT) has offered Greater Manchester £1.5bn to improve public transport, GMPTE is looking to borrow a further £1.2bn and there will also be third party contributions of around £0.1bn and when added together these will fund the required works.
But the £1.5bn on offer from the DfT, which is key to this whole package, is dependent on the introduction of measures to tackle congestion - a directional, weekday only, peak time congestion charge. Without the charge, we do not get the funds.
Back to top - What does it mean when you say you get a low paid discount?
There are two aspects to the Low Income Workers discount – a charging discount for people who travel by car, and a public transport discount.
A charging discount of 20% will be applied to those workers earning the level of the minimum wage and whose place of work is within the charging rings. To obtain this discount, users will need to provide evidence of their income and evidence of their work location. The user will have to identify which car the discount should apply to. This car will have to be registered at the same address as the user. When the charging rings are crossed, the system will identify the eligible vehicle and apply the discount.
A public transport discount of 20% on public transport fares during the peak periods will be applied for workers in Greater Manchester earning the level of the minimum wage. To obtain this discount, users will need to provide evidence of their income. The discount will apply to local peak-time (7:00am to 9:30am and 4:00pm to 6:30pm) public transport journeys in Greater Manchester. For the public transport discount, the user will register for the scheme and their travel smartcard will be used to administer the discount as and when fares are paid.
Back to top - I am an employee at Trafford Park – will I have to pay the congestion charge?
There will be a 100% discount to workers in Trafford Park which will end when the optimum public transport investment package becomes operational (anticipated to be in 2016).
This discount will apply to employees working in Trafford Park. For the purposes of this discount Trafford Park includes the shopping and leisure facilities inside the M60 in and around the Trafford Centre.
The discount will apply to charges for crossing the outer ring.
Back to top - Will I see a change in my public transport fares because of TIF?
The TIF strategy aims to deliver a simpler and better integrated fares and ticketing system than we have today.
We are seeking to introduce the following range of tickets:
• 2 or 3 fare bands e.g. a short hop (5 stops or less) and a standard fare;
• Smartcard based products allowing single fares to be purchased with the smartcard (acting as an electronic ‘purse’) and a series of price caps for:
o 120 minute capped fare for unlimited bus or tram journeys
o Daily/weekly caps for unlimited bus or tram journeys
In addition, there will be a low income worker discount of 20% on peak time public transport fares for those earning the minimum wage.
Back to top - When would the investment and charging be introduced?
The improvements in public transport would begin to be in place from 2010. Almost all of the improvements will be in place by the summer of 2013, the earliest that congestion charging could be introduced.
Back to top - How can we be sure that the improvements would be in place before charging is introduced?
AGMA (the Association of Greater Manchester Authorities) has insisted that at least 80% of transport improvements are in place before congestion charging can be introduced.
Back to top - How much congestion would be reduced by the proposals?
It is estimated that traffic levels would fall immediately by 10-15% from the date when a charge is introduced.
Back to top - Would it affect drivers who stay on the M60?
No. The outer ring of the congestion charge picks up cars coming into Manchester off the M60 in the morning, and going back onto the M60 in the evening. There would be no charge for driving on the M60 itself.
Back to top - Would it operate like the London congestion zone?
No! The Greater Manchester scheme would only operate at peak times and in the direction of congestion - going in towards Manchester in the morning peak, and coming out in the early evening. So there would be no charge to pay for driving inside the rings themselves - only for crossing a ring at peak time.
Back to top - What is the location of the inner ring?
Click here to download a pdf of the inner ring
Back to top - What will I pay?
Assuming no discounts apply to a journey, the following charges would apply.
Weekday Mornings
£2* if crossing the Outer Ring in-bound, towards Manchester city centre between 7:00am and 9:30am
£1* if crossing the Inner Ring in-bound, towards Manchester city centre between 7:00am and 9.30am
You would only pay once regardless of how many times you cross each ring in the charging period, e.g. you would only be charged £2* to cross the outer ring and £1* for the inner ring in the morning even if you were to cross it several times on the same morning.
Weekday Evenings
£1* if crossing the Inner Ring out-bound, (away from Manchester city centre), between 4:00pm and 6:30pm
£1* if crossing the Outer Ring out-bound, (away from Manchester city centre) between 4:00pm and 6:30pm
You would only pay £1* for each ring you cross regardless of how many times you cross it on the same evening.
This means the maximum regular users will pay is £5* regardless of how many times a ring is crossed in each charging period.
Vehicles would not be charged at weekends or on Bank Holidays, for travelling around the M60 or if they do not cross one of the charging rings. No vehicles would be charged outside the times currently being considered.
*2007 prices for pre-registered users.
Back to top - Will the TIF make public transport safer?
The key schemes will be designed with safety and security in mind. For example all new interchanges and station improvements will be designed in consultation with the Police. They will be well lit environments that people feel safe in. In addition, the TIF strategy introduces new monitoring across Greater Manchester. CCTV facilities will be improved, rolled out further (including onto new buses) and linked to public address systems at bus and rail stations and interchanges
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Some critics have made a number of inaccurate claims about the TIF bid a few of these are corrected below.
- “Drivers will face a £7.50 per day charge” – Not true, fewer than 20% of peak time drivers in Greater Manchester will pay any charge at all and the average amount paid by those who chose to drive at peak times will be less than £3 on average (at 2007 prices.) It has also been made proposed full £5 charge for those choosing to drive to and from the city centre at peak times will be no more than £6 when it is introduced in 2013. If a charge were in place today, more drivers would pay £1 per day than would pay £5.
Back to top - “There is no cap on the charge increasing” – An independent regulator would be appointed to ensure that any future development of charging prices meets the four AGMA tests. These tests insist that any measures must enhance the competitiveness of the city region, genuinely tackle congestion, and must be acceptable to business and the public.
Back to top - “For the scheme to break even the daily charge would need to be more than £8 per day” – There is no factual evidence for this claim. A great deal of detailed planning and modelling has been done in this area. As stated above, the full £5 charge will be no more than £6 per when introduced in 2013.
Back to top - “The current investment proposals concentrate on travel into and out of the city centre” – The proposed TIF package will bring benefits to a wide range of communities across Greater Manchester. Metrolink will be extended into Rochdale and Oldham town centres, to Manchester Airport and Ashton-under-Lyne. Funds have also been earmarked to extend the Metrolink line to Trafford Park and the Trafford Centre. This, in addition to confirmed expansion, will provide more than 100km of track across Greater Manchester. The bus network will also be greatly improved throughout Greater Manchester with at least 90 per cent of the public within a five minute walk of a service that Monday to Saturday will run at least every 20 minutes during the daytime and at least every 30 minutes for weekday early mornings, evenings and at Sundays. New direct cross-city bus services will also link towns across Greater Manchester, without the need to change buses in the city centre.
Back to top - “No detail has been provided of the technology which will support the scheme” – The tag and beacon system proposed has already been proven in a number of different cities around the world including Singapore and Sydney. Tag and beacon has been shown to represent the most cost effective and consumer friendly technological solution available to date.
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You can also write to the GMfuture transport team using this form.
