Drivers face £20 toll to reach Heathrow
Discussion
Drivers face £20 toll to reach Heathrow
Dipesh Gadher, Transport Correspondent
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/newspaper/0,,176-1796281,00.html
MOTORISTS travelling to and from London on the M4 face a toll of up to £20 under plans being considered by the Department for Transport to cut pollution around Heathrow airport.
The charge, which could start at £5 to £10 in 2008, would be the first mandatory levy on drivers using Britain’s motorway network. It would rise to about £20 in 2015 to ensure that stringent European emissions targets are met, clearing one of the hurdles for the construction of a third runway at Heathrow.
The proposals are outlined in an internal memo drawn up by transport department officials and published under the Freedom of Information Act. If approved, the charge will affect up to 150,000 motorists who use the M4 each day to enter and leave London. The fee would be imposed on top of the capital’s £8 congestion charge.
The toll could be enforced by cameras similar to those already used in central London or satellite-based tracking devices. Higher charges could be levied at peak times, while the most polluting vehicles might be banned altogether, according to the document.
Edmund King, executive director of the RAC Foundation, the motoring body, described the proposals as “one-sided”. He added: “If you did have a charge on the M4 just because of access to Heathrow, it would hit many millions of other motorists who have no intention of catching an aeroplane.”
Critics believe that traffic could be displaced to smaller roads — creating new congestion hot spots — as drivers tried to avoid the new charge.
However, the document predicts that people will abandon their cars: “The increased price of using the road network would encourage substitution away from the road network towards public transport.
“This has two impacts: it reduces the congestion on the road network, thus generating user benefits for those individuals who still use the roads; and it has the knock-on effect of reducing the level of emissions. The LAQ (local air quality) problems associated with Heathrow mean that this achievement is particularly worthwhile.”
The government favours the construction of a new runway at the west London airport between 2015 and 2020, which would increase passenger numbers from 67m to 116m by 2030. However, it will be approved only if air pollution around Heathrow can be tackled first.
European legislation will make it illegal from 2010 for residents to be exposed to nitrogen dioxide emissions of more than 40 microgrammes per cubic metre of air.
Although most of these emissions are produced by aircraft landing and taking off, officials claim that traffic from the nearby M4 and from a spur road linking the motorway to the airport is also to blame.
The document refers to Highways Agency research which has examined the impact on traffic levels of both the opening of Terminal 5 (T5) in 2008 and eventually a third runway. This, in turn, was based on an earlier study which proposed road pricing along the wider M4 corridor to the west of London.
“A charge in the range of £5-£10 on the M4 within the M25 and M4 spur would be significant enough to avoid the need for engineering work (such as adding an extra lane) on the M4 to account for new T5 traffic alone,” the document says.
“Modelling work . . . suggested that a charge in the region of £20 would be required to restrict traffic to T5 levels if a third runway was constructed.”
A spokesman for the transport department said there were no immediate plans to introduce tolls on the M4.
However, Alistair Darling, the transport secretary, will today reiterate the need to consider a national road pricing scheme when he addresses the Labour party conference in Brighton. He will say that tackling congestion is crucial if Britain is to compete with emerging economies such as China and India. Nick Ray
Dipesh Gadher, Transport Correspondent
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/newspaper/0,,176-1796281,00.html
MOTORISTS travelling to and from London on the M4 face a toll of up to £20 under plans being considered by the Department for Transport to cut pollution around Heathrow airport.
The charge, which could start at £5 to £10 in 2008, would be the first mandatory levy on drivers using Britain’s motorway network. It would rise to about £20 in 2015 to ensure that stringent European emissions targets are met, clearing one of the hurdles for the construction of a third runway at Heathrow.
The proposals are outlined in an internal memo drawn up by transport department officials and published under the Freedom of Information Act. If approved, the charge will affect up to 150,000 motorists who use the M4 each day to enter and leave London. The fee would be imposed on top of the capital’s £8 congestion charge.
The toll could be enforced by cameras similar to those already used in central London or satellite-based tracking devices. Higher charges could be levied at peak times, while the most polluting vehicles might be banned altogether, according to the document.
Edmund King, executive director of the RAC Foundation, the motoring body, described the proposals as “one-sided”. He added: “If you did have a charge on the M4 just because of access to Heathrow, it would hit many millions of other motorists who have no intention of catching an aeroplane.”
Critics believe that traffic could be displaced to smaller roads — creating new congestion hot spots — as drivers tried to avoid the new charge.
However, the document predicts that people will abandon their cars: “The increased price of using the road network would encourage substitution away from the road network towards public transport.
“This has two impacts: it reduces the congestion on the road network, thus generating user benefits for those individuals who still use the roads; and it has the knock-on effect of reducing the level of emissions. The LAQ (local air quality) problems associated with Heathrow mean that this achievement is particularly worthwhile.”
The government favours the construction of a new runway at the west London airport between 2015 and 2020, which would increase passenger numbers from 67m to 116m by 2030. However, it will be approved only if air pollution around Heathrow can be tackled first.
European legislation will make it illegal from 2010 for residents to be exposed to nitrogen dioxide emissions of more than 40 microgrammes per cubic metre of air.
Although most of these emissions are produced by aircraft landing and taking off, officials claim that traffic from the nearby M4 and from a spur road linking the motorway to the airport is also to blame.
The document refers to Highways Agency research which has examined the impact on traffic levels of both the opening of Terminal 5 (T5) in 2008 and eventually a third runway. This, in turn, was based on an earlier study which proposed road pricing along the wider M4 corridor to the west of London.
“A charge in the range of £5-£10 on the M4 within the M25 and M4 spur would be significant enough to avoid the need for engineering work (such as adding an extra lane) on the M4 to account for new T5 traffic alone,” the document says.
“Modelling work . . . suggested that a charge in the region of £20 would be required to restrict traffic to T5 levels if a third runway was constructed.”
A spokesman for the transport department said there were no immediate plans to introduce tolls on the M4.
However, Alistair Darling, the transport secretary, will today reiterate the need to consider a national road pricing scheme when he addresses the Labour party conference in Brighton. He will say that tackling congestion is crucial if Britain is to compete with emerging economies such as China and India. Nick Ray
Mon Ami Mate said:
A spokesman for the transport department said there were no immediate plans to introduce tolls on the M4.
Exactly - politically deeply unacceptable - how about some new roads instead ?
Mon Ami Mate said:
However, Alistair Darling, the transport secretary, will today reiterate the need to consider a national road pricing scheme when he addresses the Labour party conference in Brighton.
Now we see the real reason - some politico flying a kite.
Mon Ami Mate said:
He will say that tackling congestion is crucial if Britain is to compete with emerging economies such as China and India. Nick Ray
What have China and India got to do with it ?
UK is #4 in world economy, competing with the likes of France, Germany, Italy, Japan and USA, surely not emerging economies like China and India ?
dcb said:
A spokesman for the transport department said there were no immediate plans to introduce tolls on the M4.
Exactly - politically deeply unacceptable - how about some new roads instead ?
It would be a dangerous new precedent because the only tolls on Motorways at present are those on the newly built M6 Toll.
Mon Ami Mate said:
However, Alistair Darling, the transport secretary, will today reiterate the need to consider a national road pricing scheme when he addresses the Labour party conference in Brighton. He will say that tackling congestion is crucial if Britain is to compete with emerging economies such as China and India. Nick Ray
Having a properly functioning transport system is indeed crucial for economic success. How this involves charging people £20 for using a short stretch of Motorway I am not entirely sure
Perhaps the government could, shock horror, start a programme of road building and junction improvements in order to relieve congestion.
and as for pollution around Heathrow, why not, as suggested earlier in the week, tax aviation fuel at the same rate as petrol.
tvrforever said:
well yet another reason to avoid flying for business trips...
Not sure what those @ Stockley Park will think work wise though!
If they put the toll at the M4/Heathrow Spur turning then everyone will use the Sipson/Harmonsworth/A4 routes (until they get bulldozed for Terminal 6/runway 3). Shirely they won't tag every road. I suspect they would end up with the scameras on the tunnel entrance instead.
So they just want taxis and buses using the airport then ... they don't pollute much do they?
How can a few cars affect Heathrows emissions compared with a 747 at full throttle lifting 400tons into the air?How can putting people off using their vehicles help us compete with China etc?
It'll stifle business and / or just cause the cost to be passed on, while the private motorist will just use (lower capacity) back roads to avoid the charge.
This looks like yet another excuse to capitalise on Government underinvestment on our roads.
It'll stifle business and / or just cause the cost to be passed on, while the private motorist will just use (lower capacity) back roads to avoid the charge.
This looks like yet another excuse to capitalise on Government underinvestment on our roads.
Whilst most of these scare stories are just attempts to warm up the public for the actual sting - I smell some small measure of truth in this one.
It has been a tradition amongst my friends and family to do "Pick Up Drop Off" raids on Terminal 3 at Heathrow. By using mobile phones and a bit of timing I can arrive at the pick up area, stop briefly to load passengers and leave. I pay no parking fees but contribute just as much to the "congestion" I suppose.
And its not just me who does this. Oh no. Everyone who can manage to arrange it from Basingstoke to Reading and beyond does this. And because we are coming in from outside London its much more convenient to use a car than the wholly inadequate public transport system.
Well apparently Red Ken doesn't like the fact that I'm using his nice airport and his lovely roads without paying! And since I'm not a Londoner (arriving from Central London at Heathrow via a nice tube system) I can't vote the
er out.
Mark my words. This *will* turn up in some form. And its an "immigration" tax on people from outside London.
Frankly - I'm going to fly from Southampton whenever possible.
It has been a tradition amongst my friends and family to do "Pick Up Drop Off" raids on Terminal 3 at Heathrow. By using mobile phones and a bit of timing I can arrive at the pick up area, stop briefly to load passengers and leave. I pay no parking fees but contribute just as much to the "congestion" I suppose.
And its not just me who does this. Oh no. Everyone who can manage to arrange it from Basingstoke to Reading and beyond does this. And because we are coming in from outside London its much more convenient to use a car than the wholly inadequate public transport system.
Well apparently Red Ken doesn't like the fact that I'm using his nice airport and his lovely roads without paying! And since I'm not a Londoner (arriving from Central London at Heathrow via a nice tube system) I can't vote the
er out. Mark my words. This *will* turn up in some form. And its an "immigration" tax on people from outside London.
Frankly - I'm going to fly from Southampton whenever possible.
The irony that motorists are to be charged to use the M4 to reduce congestion and pollution, whilst at the same time approving a third runway for the expansion of Heathrow is simply breathtaking.
Perhaps expanding a different airport (or perhaps capping Heathrow altogether) might be more productive in terms of reducing both congestion and pollution around the M25/M4?
Perhaps expanding a different airport (or perhaps capping Heathrow altogether) might be more productive in terms of reducing both congestion and pollution around the M25/M4?
Don said:
Whilst most of these scare stories are just attempts to warm up the public for the actual sting...........
Eg petrol costs 79.9p for ages, then rockets towards £1.00, everyone goes mad, then it drops to 95p and everyobody thinks f**k me that was close.
We have an increase of 15p in place, job done.
Sorry, I am a little confused.
Aircraft cause lots of pollution (i.e. many thousands of gallons of fuel used Per flight) so they will build a new runway and increase the number of planes in the area.
Then charge the motorist? How odd....
Seems to me to just be another attempt by this Govt to tax the motorist (they know we HAVE to use our cars to get to work) to pay for the pikeys' fags and booze....
Aircraft cause lots of pollution (i.e. many thousands of gallons of fuel used Per flight) so they will build a new runway and increase the number of planes in the area.
Then charge the motorist? How odd....
Seems to me to just be another attempt by this Govt to tax the motorist (they know we HAVE to use our cars to get to work) to pay for the pikeys' fags and booze....
jasandjules said:
Sorry, I am a little confused.
Aircraft cause lots of pollution (i.e. many thousands of gallons of fuel used Per flight) so they will build a new runway and increase the number of planes in the area.
Then charge the motorist? How odd....
Seems to me to just be another attempt by this Govt to tax the motorist (they know we HAVE to use our cars to get to work) to pay for the pikeys' fags and booze....
Good news for Manchester though. I am sure that sooner or later the halfwits in charge will realise that Kengestion charging will simply lead to business moving elswhere. I can see a new Runway at Heathrow being used for Vmax on the weekends at the rate these idiots are going.
nonegreen said:
Good news for Manchester though. I am sure that sooner or later the halfwits in charge will realise that Kengestion charging will simply lead to business moving elswhere. I can see a new Runway at Heathrow being used for Vmax on the weekends at the rate these idiots are going.
Don't count on it - we've already sent Richard and Judy to Manchester, it's just the start of a plan to move all our wasters up there.
Cheers,
Rob.
Surely most of the vehicles in and out of Heathrow are either private hire cars, taxis or minibuses dropping off or collecting people, my company averages 35 trips a day into LHR, can you imagine what that would do for our profits, the costs would only be passed onto our clients, who would then think it was cheaper to drive themselves putting more cars onto the road, bringing more income to the toll booths. Maybe thats the ploy?
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