16 replies to this topic

[SHACK]

Just read on the Vanmaster Web Site that CC Members get a discount by showing there CC Card at a Toll Booth on the M6 Tll Road.
Anyone heard of this. SHACK

[RogerL]

I've seen it somewhere but it's not on the CC website ! You need to go to one of the manned booths.

M6 itself isn't as busy as it used to be - something to do with the recession - so apart from peak time at Bank Holiday weekends, there's no need to use the M6 Toll.

The operating company will soon go into liquidation as they've made a loss every year since the M6 Toll opened - as the losses mount they increase their charges but that simply reduces traffic numbers even further and increasing their losses.

[AlBundy65]

It's in the caravan club magazine, nice saving as well, may 2012 edition, page 117 if you have it. peak time normally £10, cc members £5.50, not so peak £8.60, members £4, nights £6.60, members £3.80. thats full lenght of the road, what they call junctions are reduced as well. £7 becomes £4 peaktime, £6.60 becomes£3.80 not so peak, and nights £4.60 becomes £2.80. Good saving if you need to travel that way.

[RogerL]

Apart from those unfortunate enough to receive higher mobility allowance who then get a free pass, I don't understand why anyone uses the M6 Toll for short trips.

[Gaz b]

Its in members offers on the cc website.




Gaz

Sent from my BlackBerry pudding using my Toe's.

[MicknPat]

RogerL, on 17 June 2012 - 04:06 PM, said:

The operating company will soon go into liquidation as they've made a loss every year since the M6 Toll opened - as the losses mount they increase their charges but that simply reduces traffic numbers even further and increasing their losses.

Are they totally THICK?  Why for once don't they try reducing the charges which may persuade extra traffic to use the toll road and make a profit?

[Surfer]

MicknPat, on 18 June 2012 - 07:05 AM, said:

Are they totally THICK?  Why for once don't they try reducing the charges which may persuade extra traffic to use the toll road and make a profit?

Agreed but when you greedy this option is not viable!

[ianb]

Used it on the way south and got the discount.

You have to use the manned booth and hand over your membership card, they then write something on a sheet of paper then take your payment.

You can pay by card even though it says cash only.

Ian

[RogerL]

The original justification for the M6 Toll was badly flawed as it's utilisation, and therefore income, was grossly overstated - it was always very clear that local opposition to tolls for short journeys, car drivers' resistance to tolls in general and the HGV industry's blanket "ban" on using it would give much lower utilisation than projected, even when the scheme was simply being debated.

In Scotland, their abolition of tolls on bridges has shown that such a moves boosts the economy rather than starving it of toll fees.

[FishyDave]

I rather like the M6 toll. Okay, it isn't cheap, but it works out around 20p a mile if you travel (solo in a car) from end to end. The services appear to have special deals for truck drivers (cheaper toll if they buy a meal there) and I heard a rumour that coaches go for free, as long as they pitch their passengers in the direction of the shop.

The original M6 from the M54 to the M5 junction may have improved no end, but it does still suffer congestion from time to time. And the one biggest factor in the improvement of the old road is the traffic relief provided by the new one - you no longer have the entire motorway traffic for the Western side of the UK running up a single road. It only takes a small increase in traffic to tip the balance from a free flowing road to a badly congested one - likewise, relieving a small amount of traffic can make a big difference.

I wish they would extend it up towards Stoke, which is something that gets mooted from time to time. The problem that used to run between the M54 and M5 junctions may have improved, but there's now a new bottleneck further North. Still, that isn't as bad as Birmingham used to be, where it would be common to spend 20 minutes or more doing the last mile of the M5. There used to be graffiti on one of the motorway bridges saying "Hit the North - get out and walk, it's quicker." Presumably scrawled by an irate motorist at some point, but now sadly gone.

[RogerL]

There's currently no justification or plans to add more permanent capacity north of the M6 / M6 Toll junction - partly because of the drop in volume since 2008 but also due to the demonstrable benefits of "Active Traffic Management" which imposes speed limits to speed up the traffic (yes, really!) and also allows hard-shoulder running - ATM can be rolled out far cheaper than new motorways so no need for tolls!

The M6 Toll is a big white elephant but fortunately it was financed privately so the politician and civil servants involved have been unscathed.

The failure of the M6 Toll has caused major rethinks on some of the other bottlenecks around the country, specifically the A14 at Huntingdon and Cambridge where the east-west A14 traffic has to merge and cross with the north-south M11/A1 traffic.

[Maurice]

Wouldn't it be great if ALL the motorways were taken over by private companies and fully maintained by the revenue they generate -- perhaps then we just might get the quality motorways as they have in France.
This would then allow the National and Local Authorities responsible to use the freed up monies to maintain and repair the "A" roads - as they do in France.

Having just come back after a month in France we were utterly ashamed when coming back to the UK at the appalling state of the British roads.
Reflective white lines -- Reflective side road markers - lighting at junctions -- Not to be seen
-- however what are seen are the POTHOLES on most of the major roads let alone the minor roads.

No I think we need a good thinking session about our road funding, and maintenance.

The French use mainly the "N" roads which run along side the motorways - for normal daily use - but have the knowledge that the Motorways are there for fast efficient travelling, if they want to pay.

Maurice

[Surfer]

Maurice, on 19 June 2012 - 02:56 PM, said:

Wouldn't it be great if ALL the motorways were taken over by private companies and fully maintained by the revenue they generate -- perhaps then we just might get the quality motorways as they have in France.
This would then allow the National and Local Authorities responsible to use the freed up monies to maintain and repair the "A" roads - as they do in France.

Having just come back after a month in France we were utterly ashamed when coming back to the UK at the appalling state of the British roads.
Reflective white lines -- Reflective side road markers - lighting at junctions -- Not to be seen
-- however what are seen are the POTHOLES on most of the major roads let alone the minor roads.

No I think we need a good thinking session about our road funding, and maintenance.

The French use mainly the "N" roads which run along side the motorways - for normal daily use - but have the knowledge that the Motorways are there for fast efficient travelling, if they want to pay.

Maurice

Maybe it is about time that the government used some of the money given to them by the motorist to repair A & B roads!

[RogerL]

Surfer, on 19 June 2012 - 03:27 PM, said:

Maybe it is about time that the government used some of the money given to them by the motorist to repair A & B roads!

How much does VED and fuel duty come to in total - many times the spend on UK roads, even adding new build to the cost of maintenance.

The main reason for the poor state of UK's roads is lack of maintenance over many years in conjunction with a couple of bad winters - it's nothing to do with philosophical arguments about whether to have toll motorways.

France is a poor example in any road-related comparison with the UK - the country is so big that population and traffic density is much lower - now if we reduced the UK population/acre down to France's level by euthanasia that would solve a lot of problems - but we can't !

[bobnchris]

Have a drive down the A55 - no pot holes, no bumps and the roads leading off are also fairly smooth