Yesterday, voters in the UK city of Manchester overwhelmingly rejected a congestion charging plan. Officials had spent millions promoting the scheme. And yet, with over one million votes counted, all ten boroughs said no to the plan– despite the promise of £2.8b ($4.2b) in mass transit spending from the central government upon approval. The final tally stood at 79 percent against and 21 percent in favor. Officials had hoped to have the complex congestion tax infrastructure in place by 2013 so that they could charge commuters an initial rate of £5 (US $7.50) to drive into Manchester city center during work hours. The average motorist would have paid an extra £1250 ($2500) per year, although once in place the rates would likely have increased.
“This is a great result,” Association of British Drivers spokesman Nigel Humphries said. “The world was watching the people of Manchester and they have seen through the great government transport bribe and voted to reject road pricing. Surely this means the government must now abandon its back door plans to tax, track and inconvenience drivers with road tolls.”
Manchester’s results mirror those of the only other public consultations held on the concept of congestion pricing in the UK. Earlier this year, two-thirds of residents in the western boroughs of London insisted on scrapping the congestion tax, imposed on them without a vote by former Mayor Ken Livingstone. Seventy-four percent of voters in Edinburgh, Scotland likewise rejected a congestion tax proposal in a February 2005 referendum. Last year, more than 1.8m voters signed an official petition on the Prime Minister’s website opposing the concept of road pricing.
The National Alliance Against Tolls, one of the primary opponents of the Manchester plan, warned that despite the clarity of these votes, bureaucrats may return with the same ideas in other parts of the country. The Alliance was responsible for pressuring local government officials into consulting the public before introducing the charge.
“Drivers pay £50 billion a year in fuel duty and other taxes, and the government puts very little of that back into the roads system,” the Alliance said in a statement. “Instead what has been happening around Britain is that the authorities are introducing measures that have the effect of slowing down general traffic and creating the congestion that they then want to tax. If, despite this vote, the government and other parties who have similar ideas persist in a policy of more taxes and tolls, we hope that all drivers will revolt and demand a fair deal for what they are already paying.”
I wonder how municipalities survived 10-20 years ago when it was unheard of to tax people’s entry to a city. Why is there such a need all of a sudden to tax the living hell out of everyone?
Gee, automobile drivers have spent 100+ years not paying for the externalities of their driving, and suddenly when asked to start paying them, the drivers balk.
I’m shocked…..SHOCKED!….
I think British drivers, with the massive fuel tax and taxes on new cars (in addition to the heavy income tax they pay to get the money to pay for the car) are paying for the externalities of driving quite nicely. If that money isn’t going to address those externalities, that’s the governments problem, not the taxpayers.
Being opposed to getting taxed to the tune of 2500 bucks a year for the privilege of commuting to work isn’t balky, its putting their foot down. It’s also a statement that they don’t find the congestion such a problem as to justify the tax. Democracy at work, imo.
DeanMTL : I wonder how municipalities survived 10-20 years ago when it was unheard of to tax people’s entry to a city. Why is there such a need all of a sudden to tax the living hell out of everyone?
30 years ago businesses and the wealthy paid higher rates of taxes. 10-20 years ago municipalities adopted policies of “deferred maintenance” to cope with lower tax rates for the wealthy and roadways and facilities were allowed to run down and go to hell. New construction was postponed and frequently canceled.
But it can’t be postponed forever and sooner or later it has to be paid for.
That said, congestion tax schemes hardly seem fair or egalitarian.
@ Eric_Stepans
Yes. Trucking even more so perhaps.
30 years ago businesses and the wealthy paid higher rates of taxes. 10-20 years ago municipalities adopted policies of “deferred maintenance” to cope with lower tax rates for the wealthy and roadways and facilities were allowed to run down and go to hell
Having lived long enough to be a taxpayer in the US since the Mid 60’s in my experience this statement is misleading.
Yes the top marginal rate has come down but due to expansion of AMT and the loss of exemptions and tax credits for tax payers in higher brackets the “true” percent of AGI paid as taxes by upper bracket taxpayers has risen over the past 20-25 years.
The subject is too complicated to outline in detail. But a brief summary would be that:
Even with a 50% top marginal rate prior to the 1986 tax reform the actual total tax paid might be 15% of gross income. Currently, because of the loss or phasing out of many deductions and application of AMT, even though the top marginal rate has been lowered to 35% the total tax paid by upper middle class earners might be 25% of gross income.
There was an interesting analysis showing that regardless of what the top marginal rate was over the past 60 years (varied from 90% to 33%) the total amount of tax collected by all levels of government in the US was about 19% of GDP.
IMO income taxes are less “regressive” in 2008 than they were in 1978. An increasing % of the adult population pays no income tax at all (they do pay sales taxes through purchases and property taxes through rent).
What I believe has changed is markedly increased spending at all levels of government on programs other than police, fire, parks and infrastructure.
Has this been good for us or not I don’t know. I do believe that unfunded pension liabilities will cripple most government entities that cannot print money.
Also it is an interesting comment on the current times that an auto site generates so much political and public policy discussion. As someone once told me “just because you don’t take an interest in politics doesn’t mean that politics won’t take an interest in you.”
TTAC is one of my favorite sites. Best of the holidays to all.
This is great news. The private automobile gives the common citizen more freedom and mobility than any public transportation could ever imagine. Congratulations to the citizens of Manchester to see this for what it is–a grab for your individual freedom and a way for government to limit your mobility.
This was also beaten in New York City.
Drive around NYC. The huge structures needed to put the Congestion Taxes in place are Already there, with the microwave link posts also in place. You will see them at every entrance point to the City just over the lines.
Hopefully Bloomberg won’t win his bogus third term, or in the alternate, Albany will still block this ripoff.
Kudos to the Brits….