Nuxx:70c9c174-d057-4b78-a1e6-6e6912f78390@k13g2000hse.googlegroups.com

Path: number1.nntp.dca.giganews.com!border1.nntp.dca.giganews.com!nntp.giganews.com!postnews.google.com!k13g2000hse.googlegroups.com!not-for-mail Message-ID: <70c9c174-d057-4b78-a1e6-6e6912f78390@k13g2000hse.googlegroups.com> From: Nuxx Bar  Newsgroups: uk.rec.cycling Subject: MANCHESTER CON CHARGE Date: Thu, 18 Sep 2008 00:13:41 -0700 (PDT) Lines: 61 Organization: http://groups.google.com NNTP-Posting-Host: 88.105.206.99 Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=windows-1252 Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable X-Trace: posting.google.com 1221722022 8791 127.0.0.1 (18 Sep 2008 07:13:42 GMT) X-Complaints-To: groups-abuse@google.com NNTP-Posting-Date: Thu, 18 Sep 2008 07:13:42 +0000 (UTC) Complaints-To: groups-abuse@google.com Injection-Info: k13g2000hse.googlegroups.com; posting-host=88.105.206.99; posting-account=7_6kYAkAAABD6HrjM0VxehwvZOKMxm4g User-Agent: G2/1.0 X-HTTP-UserAgent: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 6.0; en-GB; rv:1.9.0.1) Gecko/2008070208 Firefox/3.0.1,gzip(gfe),gzip(gfe) Bytes: 4327 Xref: perfectly-safe.chapmancentral.co.uk uk.rec.cycling:668337

I'd like the trolls to explain why they support the Manchester Con Charge, and how they can possibly claim not to be anti-motorist while they do so. Why are the trolls and Labour alike so reluctant to explore any congestion-relieving option which *doesn't* make things worse for motorists? We know why: because they hate motorists, and they're just looking for any excuse they can find to inflict misery on them.

I can see why Labour lie about being anti-motorist, since they know that admitting it would make them even more unpopular, but why do the trolls also lie about being anti-motorist? What do they hope to gain by being so dishonest about their agenda? If their anti-motorist crusade is such a wonderful and worthwhile thing, why are they apparently so ashamed of it?

Anyway, in true Spindrift style (except of course that Shitdrift is invariably wrong), here's some copy-and-paste stuff about why the Manchester Con Charge is a bad idea, not only for the motorist "scum" (how dare they try to get around?), but for everyone. Whether you want to reduce congestion, improve public transport or spitefully bully motorists off the road, Con Charging is not the right way to go about it.

WHY OPPOSE THE CHARGE?

The transport proposals the charge would fund are simply badly thought out and offer poor value for money.

Why?

* The charge could cost you up to =A31200 every year just to use your car ["Is that all? It's a drop in the ocean, considering that we want at least =A36000 VED," bleat Crapman and co, who aren't at all anti- motorist of course.] * Too big - current proposals would create the world=92s largest congestion charging zone - that=92s 80sq miles in Manchester versus only 2sq miles in Singapore and Rome or 11sq miles in Stockholm and 8sq miles for the original London zone. * Not effective - Over such a large area, the promised improvements will not make public transport a practical, safe, cheap, door-to-door alternative to the car for most of us   * No guarantees - There are no guarantees on charging times, pricing or zone boundaries. In London, the zone=92s size doubled and charges rose by 60% after just two years [Those who implement spiteful anti-motorist policies are invariably dishonest and disingenuous in ways such as this] * Knock on costs for us all - Even if you don=92t drive, additional costs to business will be passed on through shops, pubs and other outlets [See, trolls? It won't only be the motorist "scum" who suffer. Only someone who was unbelievably spiteful would be prepared to pay so much more for everything just so that they could feel smug about motorists being bullied off the roads.] * Out on our own - Edinburgh, Birmingham, Norwich and Cambridge have already said No to congestion charging [I bet the trolls loved hearing about each of those results!]

We could invest much less to achieve much, much more, without needing a congestion charge. There are many unexplored alternative ways to reduce congestion and fund transport improvements without a charge. Manchester deserves better, we must explore them fully. [Aaargh! It's the car-hating trolls' worst nightmare!]