Memorandum by West Midlands Regional Assembly
(RP 08)
M6 TOLL
On behalf of the West Midlands Regional Assembly's
Transport partnership, I would like to respond to the Transport
Committee's decision to take evidence on the existing M6 Toll
and the proposed toll road to relieve congestion between Birmingham
and Manchester between junctions 11a and 19 on the M6.
We are pleased that the Government views WMRA's
input as important. Indeed the DfT have given special dispensation
for WMRA to reply after the 21 October 2004 deadline, thus allowing
the full Assembly to consider the response to the "M6 Expressway
Concept". In the meantime WMRA's Transport Partnership is
providing this response to the Transport Committee's request for
evidence.
The Committee's questions are very specific
and somewhat premature, given the relatively short life of the
current M6 Toll. I will refrain from detailed responses to each
question but make the following comments:
(a) The monitoring of the M6 Toll shows
that there are changes to travel patterns and behaviour, however,
this evidence is only for the first three months, which is a very
short period and the monitoring only considers traffic movements
and journey times. Based on this evidence, the consultation document
states that "Drivers using the M6 Toll benefit from journey
times that remain constant throughout the day. They also benefit
from significant journey-time savings." It is our understanding
that the impact of the M6 Toll on congestion and reliability across
the network is variable.
Importantly there is no evidence to show the
impact on the local, regional or national economy. Neither has
there been any measure of the impact on the environment.
It is difficult to accept that this analysis
provides sufficient evidence to assume that a similar type of
operation is appropriate for the M6 between junctions 11a and
19. The M6 Toll provides an alternative route, to the congested
network in the West Midlands conurbation, for long distance/through
movements. The M6 between junctions 11a and 19 has a very different
role. The assumption that the M6 Toll operation can be extended
across the motorway network is probably the most important unforeseen
impact to date.
(b) We recognise that Regional Planning
Guidance for the West Midlands (RPG11), published in June 2004,
emphasises the importance of the South East-North West corridor
and states that "The key highway improvement is the proposed
widening of M6 junctions 11a to 19 (in response to the recommendations
of the MidMan MMS)".
This measure has been included in the West Midlands
Regional Transport Strategy (RTS) "package", identified
in Policy T12: Priorities for Investment. The "package"
is integrated and includes public transport as well as roads.
The "M6 Expressway Concept" does not identify the contribution
to national or regional integrated transport strategies.
The "M6 Expressway Concept" suggests
that the Government is no longer willing to fund the M6 widening
without significant input from and risk sharing with the private
sector. This is likely to delay the M6 scheme and have a knock-on
effect on delivering the associated M54 to M6/M6 Toll Link, thus
ignoring the West Midlands and North West regions RTSs.
The West Midlands Region Assembly, in close
co-operation with regional partners and stakeholders, has an agreed
set of Transport Priorities, to support and promote the environmental,
social and economic well being of the region, and particularly
the regeneration of our major urban areas eg Birmingham, Black
Country, Coventry and Stoke.
These priorities do not include the provision
of tolled expressway connecting M6 Toll with Manchester. We are
firmly of the view that transportation problems will be alleviated
by an integrated approach, changing public attitudes and travel
behaviour, making better use of existing facilities and providing
new infrastructure when necessary.
(c) It is far too early to understand any
of the benefits/dis-benefits of the "M6 Expressway Concept"
in comparison to widening the existing M6, as there is no comparative
assessment. The DfT could assess the "M6 Expressway Concept"
to the same level of detail as the widening—but we are not
convinced that this will be the best use of scarce specialist
resources. There are more important transport priorities in this
region that require attention.
The Future of Transport White Paper makes it
clear that the Government sees no alternative to the introduction
of a national road pricing regime, the "M6 Expressway Concept"
seems to ignore this too. Toll roads alone should not be encouraged
to solve congestion problems. Tackling congestion and satisfying
demand for travel, moving people and goods, requires a package
of measures and initiatives—national road pricing is just
one of these measures.
I would like to make the Committee aware that
the Chair of the WMRA has already written to the Secretary of
State regarding the lack of notification afforded to WMRA in his
consultation for "M6: giving motorists a choice", his
office has responded.
In conclusion, it is not possible to support
the concept of a new toll motorway in isolation and there are
more important transport priorities for this region that require
investment.
Cllr Roger Phillips
Chair, Transport Partnership, WMRA
September 2004
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