Congestion charging will one day be introduced in cities all across the UK, green campaigners have warned.
Tony Jupiner, the executive director of Friends of the Earth, has argued that cities will be forced to introduce charging systems because of the weight of traffic.
Only last week Porsche unveiled a TfL-commissioned report showing that the new £25 C-Charge in London will actually increase CO2 by 182,000 tonnes.
Despite this FoE claim that congestion charge will inevitably become common place in all the UK’s major cities.
Courier drivers and other motorists are becoming hindered by heavier traffic and ‘many of England's most vibrant cities are being brought to a standstill’, Jupiner said.
‘Manchester should not only be considering the charge but also looking at whether, by being the first city outside London to go ahead, it could be creating a competitive advantage.’
Some experts have warned that there is nothing competitive about introducing a c-charge.
Preston traders believe they will be the big winners if Manchester introduces a scheme, saying that it will create congestion charge ‘refugees’.
Ken Williams, the general manager at The Mall St George's shopping centre in Preston, said: ‘I was at a lunch with the manager of the Trafford Centre the other day and he said to me that we in Preston must be 'rubbing our hands together' in relation to the congestion charge, because it will affect anything within that M60 boundary.
The only question is where will they put the congestion cameras after every road is lined with average speed detectors?
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