Greater Manchester’s £1 billion congestion problem

Transport bosses in Greater Manchester say there are no plans for a congestion charge anywhere in the region, amid concerns about worsening traffic.

A report published by Manchester City Council on Tuesday 3rd November put the cost of the region's congestion at £1.3bn a year to the economy.

The report said congestion in Manchester is back to pre-pandemic levels.

It also said encouraging more people to ditch their cars for active travel is a key priority.

A recent Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM) report found traffic levels in Greater Manchester are three per cent above 2019 levels.

Investment in public transport

TfGM said it will invest heavily in public transport to try to turn the situation around.

It said £2.5bn of government money is set to flow into the region between 2027 and 2032.

It also said plans to bring railway lines into the Bee Network will start from this December.

A TfGM spokesperson said: "There are no plans for a congestion charge in any part of Greater Manchester, instead we are investing heavily in the Bee Network to give people a reliable alternative to getting in their car."

The spokesperson said: "One tram full of people could replace around 200 cars on the road and a double decker bus around 75, demonstrating the benefits of getting more people on board the Bee Network."

Investment in public transport has long been seen as the solution to congestion in Greater Manchester, but some have questioned whether it is working.

Councillors clash at scrutiny meeting

Councillors in Manchester disagreed over the issue at a scrutiny meeting on Tuesday 3rd November.

Reform UK councillor Dylan Evans argued that creating more cycle lanes could make congestion in Manchester worse.

Councillor Evans said: "There's going to be less space if we're putting more and more cycle lanes on certain roads which leads to congestion, because there's less space then for cars."

He said: "In an ideal world, I'm sure we'd all love to snap our fingers and everyone cycles and we all have a very good time, but that's not the reality."

Labour councillor Mandie Shilton Godwin, who leads on transport issues in Manchester, said the focus had to be on improving walking, cycling and public transport options.

Councillor Shilton Godwin said: "Everything that we do, the number of cars and the number of car journeys does seem to inexorably increase, and that is very unfortunate, because the space we have is the space we have, and if you have a car, it won't fit in a smaller space."

She said: "That is very difficult for everybody."

A Manchester City Council officer on the city's roads

A Manchester City Council officer told the meeting the city's Victorian roads can only be expanded so much given its growth.

The officer said: "Given our growth forecast in terms of jobs and the number of homes that are being delivered across the city, we know we have to do something to prepare for a modal shift, because just to continually seek to accommodate an ever-increasing number of cars isn't feasible."

The officer said: "We've got a lot of narrow Victorian roads, there is a limit to what we can do to widen them."

The officer said: "What we are trying to do is to provide reliable, alternative, safe options. Separate cycling and walking lanes increase people's confidence to use those as options."

Manchester City Council's response

A spokesperson for Manchester City Council said: "We have known for some time that Manchester is reaching the upper limits of how many vehicles can be accommodated by the current network."

The spokesperson said: "The continued growth of the city coupled with the increase in car ownership across the city-region contributes to a situation where more cars are competing for the same amount of space on our roads."

The spokesperson said: "The council – alongside our GM partners – have been working to address this issue in recent years with a concerted push towards other forms of transport which can remove pressure from the road network."

The spokesperson said: "We are investing in public transport as well as walking and cycling infrastructure in order to provide more ways to travel, so that journey times can be more reliable for when driving is the best option."

How London handled congestion

Cities around the UK have looked at different ways of tackling congestion.

Transport for London (TfL) said traffic levels dropped and public transport use went up when London's congestion charge was introduced in 2003.

A TfL spokesperson said: "When the congestion charge was introduced in 2003, there was a 30 per cent reduction in congestion within the zone and a 15 per cent reduction in circulating traffic in the first year."

The spokesperson said: "It also boosted bus travel by 33 per cent."

The spokesperson said: "Analysis has shown that there would have been around three million additional journeys by car across London in 2019 without the changes TfL has introduced to encourage more sustainable travel patterns over the last two decades, of which the congestion charge was a critical first step."

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