Travel

Bob C
I live near the toll road at Castle Brom and regualery travel over it. It seems empty most of time and to me it does not work in relieving the continued conjestion on the M6 at every morning and evening rush hour. It is evident that people cannot afford the high costs to use the Toll road every day to and from work. I have lived in America were it is common to drive on Toll Roads and comuting is only a few cents per day which did not burn a hole in my pocket and Toll booth areas far more motor friendly than over here. Yuo must listen to the complaints and reduce yuor prices.

abas
i note pay my paymente in m6 toll birmingham howe can i pay my payment

J'mooly
it was a good idea but will you lower your prices

GRAHAM
I LIVE IN CANNOCK AND COMMUTE FROM THERE TO SOLIHULL FOR WORK EVERY WORKING DAY. DUE TO THE SEVERE DAILY CONGETION BACKING UP TO JUNCTION 11 ON THE M6 I AM FORCED TO USE THE A34 AND THEN JOIN THE M6 AT WEDNESBURY. SIMPLY PUT... THE TOLL ROAD ISN'T WORKING TO REDUCE CONGESTION ON THE M6. ITS AS THOUGH IT DOES NOT EXIST

Mark P
I find your figures a bit lacking - you state the percentage change in use of the toll road, and the total number of vehicles (plus design capacity) for the original M6, but don't complete this by stating the opposite set for the rival road so that we compare the two properly. They're pretty meaningless until we have these. How many vehicles total is the toll road taking away from the M6? How close to capacity is it [at peak times*]? What's the usage trend for the M6 itself vs the toll's falling patronage, and how are other local roads doing e.g. the A5, A38 and A446 which the toll shadows for the vast majority of its length (drivers perhaps "rediscovering" these as an M6 alternative after seeing the toll route on the map)?If it's fallen 10% per year from an initial high peak, and is still taking some tens of thousands of vehicles away from the M6 at peak times (despite the ever higher prices), then it's still of use. Similarly, if the M6's use has also been falling, then it's just a lower motorway use for some reason (people staying more local, etc). Please fill this out.* as this is the only time it really matters - the toll is just an expensive 100mph expressway and shortcut to the north midlands at off peak times.

motaz hawash
they should make drivers pay for using the M6 and make the toll free!

Wendy Evans
I wanted to stay on the M6 at junction 4 and travel on to junction 8 to joint the M5. I followed the only indication of the M5 and ended up on the M42. How the hell do I get from junction 4 to junction 8. There is far to much going on at this junction and many people end up going on the toll by mistake or end up on the M42. Will someone please tell which lane to stay in if I want to stay on the M6 please.

steve Batchelor
had to pay toll to use Dartford xing on M25 £3.00 and £8.00 on M6 just to pull a caravan up North for a break should be free

Peter S Moir
If they reduce the price to no more than £3.00 more people would use the toll road. A three month trial should carried out to see if this would happen. I believe it would.

Martin Davies
Used the M6 / M5 junction on Tuesday 26/08/08, and there was no indication that the toll road even existed. The motorway junction was as busy AND at a near STANDSTILL in both directions as it was 20+ years ago when I used the motorways daily as a midlands engineer.

Andy
Don't we all pay enough tax??Why tolerate this abhoration!

simon
When I changed jobs 18 mths ago, travelling from Albrighton to Coventry. I accepted the toll costs, bought my Tag and used it for 6 single journeys a week (£21). Two price increases later and I will not use it other than on Mon mornings (£4.50)how can this possibly make good business sense? This week, on the entire journey, I counted just 6 HGVs going South. This is not delivering on its promise to ease congestion - just another Midlands transport white elephant.

lenny
no never again will i use the toll road £4.50 for a car what a disgrace how do the lorries and coaches manage boycot it stay clear they will get the messageim disgusted dont we pay enough to drive

Matt Taylor
I use the toll a few times a year every time I travel north.Its great, there is very little traffic and I always anjoy a smile as I watch the cheapskates turning off to avoid it.I am more than happy to pay the fee to speed up my journey and make it a little bit safer.

Fiona G
As a regular traveller from the South East to the North West, the M6 toll fee has rocketed since it opened, hence the fact that it is always empty, if it goes above £5, I will simply bite the bullet and travel on the ordinary M6 route. Also, will the tolls be dismantled once the road has been paid for as they are in France, I very much doubt it!

k.whitmore
the toll road should be free ,the amount of money motorists have to pay to keep their cars on the road is already a disgrace

Jon Elliott
The prices on the toll are horrific and has got totally out of hand. I'm not necessarily against toll roads, but £4.50 is ridiculous. As someone that grew up a mile or so from where the toll road now is, i find the £3.50 to get off at a local junction is even more outrageous. Especially considering they bulldozed through the local people's countryside to build the flaming thing in the first place!

Luke Fellows
I think the M6 Toll is expensive enough already, and doesn't ease congestion at all. They clearly need to ease congestion at the M5 slip roads.

Sharon Williams
I think the increase in the toll prices are shocking. The idea of the toll is to decrease congestion on the m6 motorway, but the increase will make fewer people use the toll and increase congestion on the motorway!It's a farce.

Ben Hackett
I regularly have to comute to shropshire to work and have to face the M6 there and back. I used to use the Toll but now i feel the price is getting out of control, with plans to increase again in 2008 it is just too much to pay and i refuse. i find most traffic is heading for the M5 anyway so a short cut for that exit would be more appropriate.

Steve J
The toll road s not forfilling its role, it should be taken into public ownership. It should remain a toll road but the rate fixed by parliament. More HGV's should be encourage to use the road with a special rate, cars should be discouraged.

Andrew
I cross the M6 toll twice a day during the morning & late afternoon rush hour and I've never seen it busy. I have never and will never use it, the government charge me a fortune for the privilage of driving my car I refuse to pay tolls as well. In the four years the toll has been open the volume of traffic using it has down year on year so what do the private owners do? they increase the prices! if this carries on the toll road will be completely empty in a couple of years. Another PFI success story...Ha.

Terry
I believe the toll rd owners increase the fee so that they maintain their income with less traffic using the road so there is less wear & less maintenance,nationalise this rd now.

David Gibson
I live near the M6 toll and rearely use it and most of the time ouside rush hour it is nearly empty. I know they are losing customers and the price increase coming into force from next year means they will lose more. I fear the company is soon going to need help to pay its creditors. The project was doomed before it began and has not helped the congestion on the midlands link motorways which was the original intention. I am glad I do not have money invested in the project.

Brian Hartshorne
We operate six vehicles(Vans) in the west midlands area. We use the toll road rarely. This is because it is to expensive. We would use some sections but as you have to pay the full price to use one mile as the full twenty seven miles it is not viable. Having worked and lived in the west midlands for twenty five years my daily experience of the M6 from Jnc 10 to the expressway remains desperate. Given the price wanted for commercial vehicles I am not suprised most companies aviod the toll road. If there has been any improvement in congestion levels on the M6 then it has escaped me. Next time there is a toll road built i suggest the government (on our behalf) agree better terms regarding control over toll charges than they did with this bunch of Aussies. who quite frankley are only interested in profit and far enough away to not care about the west midlands motorists. Another government PFI initiative that hasent worked! A link from Jnc 12/13 running west around the west midlands and joining the M5 betwenn Bromsgrove and worcester would ease congestion. This could be a two lane road and preferbly paid for out of existing road taxes which still get used for things, other than roads!

Pat
Dont use it is what I say! And quadruple the price for those who use it!

Jason Sheldon
The problem is not the traffic heading for Birmingham! It's the traffic heading for and coming off the M5!The traffic is always clogged between 10a and 8 (m5 turnoff) southbound, and Junction 6 to junction 8 northbound. Traffic is as busy as you'd expect around Spaghetti (j6) for Birmingham, but the real bottleneck is the M5 slip.Clearly, the Toll road bypasses the wrong place, and we need a bypass that goes through South Staffordshire across to the M5 below Oldbury/Halesowen - but that means going through well off areas, so it'll never happen.

Graham
It's great let's make it longer!

Dave
I feel the need to clarify some of the comments made here. Devious signage? There are over 14 signs, over many miles directing how to get on, or NOT get on to the M6 toll. You have to make a determined decision to get on to it. Unless of course you are not paying any attention to the road signs. Peak time is uptill 11:00pm, not 9:00pm as one comment incorrectly stated. Tags slow you down? The tag lane is the quickest way through the tolls. The tag is read, and the barrier opens as soon as you approach it. The problem only arises when even though the type of lane is clearly marked IE: Tag lane, Automatic lane, Manned lane. Drivers without tags enter the tag lane thereby blocking it for those who do have a tag, ( not paying attention to the signs again.) All lanes accept the correct change, a debit or credit card,but if you only have a note,you need to use a manned lane where the toll assistant will give you your change, and a receipt. All of the holdups are caused by drivers not paying attention to the clearly marked signs. Price a rip off? the price you pay is based on size. Sensors read the size of the vehicle, and the price is charged for that size, so a car pays less than a car and trailer with a boat on it.The M6toll was built to a very high standard, and is maintained to a high standard. That is why it is smooth, clean,and safe.The complaints about the state of the M6 prove how much better the M6toll is IE:No congestion, no potholes, no endless roadworks etc. All in all, it's the best possible way to get from one side of Birmingham to the other, and you probably save the cost of the toll by not sitting in a traffic queue burning up a gallon of petrol to move five miles.After a fixed period of years, the M6toll reverts back to Government ownership, that's when you will see it become congested, riddled with potholes, and falling apart as all the other road tax funded motorways are.

john
a joke just money grabbing from us motorits drop the price and more wood use it and lorries as well its only for the rich not normal every day users

paul
I often bypass this road and would cheerfully sit for a week with my engine running polluting the atmosphere out of pure spite for a government that sees no sense and wants to persecute every person driving a car. I thnk that cash from the so called labour party funding shoul also be confiscated and poured into the government coffers to alleviate costs incurred by motorist's

Ian.
It isnt really needed. Clearly the people who thought up the idea made mistakes in the planning and implementation of the project.

Jenny T
My husband and I travel from London to Rochdale to visit my elderly mother in law about once a month. We generally do not use the toll road going up, as we try to leave London around 6am on a Saturday morning, so the roads are not too congested. However, returning around mid-morning on Sunday, we have used the toll quite often, and appreciate the less stressful journey that it provides because it is so much less crowded. However, when the toll went up, we started using it much less. If it goes up again, I am sure this will be even more disincentive to use it - cutting off their noses to spite their faces!

Chris N.
I travel from Dumfriesshire to Sussex or Hampshire about 6-8 times a year, timing my journey through the West Midlands to avoid the rush periods. I did use the toll road when it first opened and was very impressed, but I refuse to travel on it now because of the high cost. In the States the same distance on a turnpike costs about $1.50; I recently travelled 91 miles on the Pennsylvania Turnpike and paid just $5.50.

nick chapman
The toll road operator is taking a commercial choice to put the fee up and watching the vehicle useage go down. However the true impact of the road is on the local surroundings and people. Including other trunk roads that connect to or cross the road. The toll road creates extra congestion on the M42 in the south due to the very poor design of the road system where they join. also the poor design of junctions and roundabouts that have been inserted on roads such as the A38 have created extra bottlenecks and accident points. A normal motorway paid from the public purse would have had proper slip roads and junctions designed. So the road operator has in effect created addtional problems for the ordinary road user and trying to take the profit. Along with creating a further environmental blot through Staffordshire. Unfortunately making the road free would just generate trafffic and both motorways would be full and even more congestion on connecting roads.

Trello
Simple. Raising prices on this road is the WRONG approach, drop them to a sensible figure and more people will use it. I often use it with a small trailer and pay double, total rip off.

Mick
Why do people use this road? In France such financial attacks on the public purse would be met with stiff resistance. If this road is deemed to be a success the end is nigh for teh motorist yet again! I say DO NOT use this road at ALL.

Steve
The ammount of tax the british mororist pays the whole country should be tarmac from Lands end to John "O" Groats.Why should we have to pay for this small strip. No one should use this road and force the company running it into closure.

K. Powell
We regularly travel from Norfolk to Liverpool and use the toll road every time. With a young child, it has made all the difference to our journey and we have not been caught on the M6 on our last 10 journeys. Prior to the toll road opening, we were caught nearly every time.

Denise
The price for all Vehicles is way too high. unless you are actually travelling on the M6 and intend to get back onto the M6 the other end then forget it as the maze of roads the other end and traffic is terrible. All in all a waste of time and money.

Steve Crawford
This road should not be used by anyone. It should be left until grass grows over it. The UK motorist is already taxed up to the hilt and persecuted for driving the car of their choice. I often travel past this road and go out of my way to avoid being chanelled onto it by devious signage and poorly indicated alternate routes. This is the thin end of the wedge!

Mark
It's too expensive. As other people have stated, it's clear road for the rich and a jammed road for everyone else. Typical of New Labour!

Dave
I won't use it because I resent paying extra simply because this dishonest government is already taking billions of pounds from motorists which they should be investing in roads, but aren't.

Laurence
I live in Birmingham and commute up and down the M6 every day. It is still VERY busy, some of which must be through traffic. I've only occasionally had cause to need the toll road. At the initial price of £3, it often paid for itself in that large amounts of petrol were saved when not sitting in jams. This isn't the case now charges have gone up, so it is unsurprising that it is not used. Part of the problem is that the road network is very congested in Birmingham so there will always be large amounts of relatively local traffic on the M6.

Steve Davis
It simply doesnt take enough traffic off the M6 and that has to be completely down to the cost of using the toll road. I live in Birmingham and at peak times the traffic is horrendous between junctions 4-10, surely people who are not using these junctions should be encouraged to use the toll road so that only local traffic is using this stretch of the M6. However this doesnt happen because people are simply not prepared to pay it seems the ever increasing cost.

Sean
In florida it costs 1 dollar for a car to use the toll roads from orlando international to disney area - why shouldn't the cost be reduced, more people may use the road now.

James Ross
I have just sent my comments on this latest price rise and their pricing strategy on the Midland Expressway website. Given the environmental impact of this road, it is criminal that much of the promised reductions in congestion around the main M6 have not been delivered - in fact due to the poor design of the tie ins with the existing network, especially at the south end, congestion is actually made worse. This wasted opportunity is entirely down to the dogmatism of the politicians who insisted on using it as an experiment in road tolls, and is compounded by the lack of any regulation on what the operating company can charge.

Sam
I use the toll road on a regular basis. However the cost just keeps going up. My drive is 200 miles with Stafford at the end or the start of the journey. It has been great. But at £4.50 I will seriously be thinking about whether to use it or not. Is raising the price again not just going to mean that more people go back to using the M6? I agree with having to pay - its a much easier drive, but £9 for a return journey??

Ian Slater
Ken Livingstone has it right in London: the M25 is free, but you pay to drive into the City. Brum is batty: you can clog up the city for free, but must pay to avoid it.

Paul C
The M6 Toll road is great for me as it empty of traffic and I can claim the toll fee back as a business expense. But, the cost of the toll to the ordinary motorist who has to pay out of their pocket is extortionate, when you count the return journey as well. I have noted the gradual increase in the toll fee each year as the company who runs it try to recover their costs from the few who use it. This is just driving more motorists to carry on using the old M6 and back routes through Birmingham and certainly not providing any incentive to use it. I also believe that they have got their rationale for charging back to front. The toll booths should be sited so that you pay only if you are entering the Birmingham conurbation i.e. adding to the traffic congestion. If you are travelling straight through then this should be free and just like a normal motorway. Because of the high toll cost you have in effect a private road for the elite who can afford it.

John Scallan
Having worked on the initial surveys designed to find out the prospective use of the "BNRR" I know how much hard work went into assessing the costs that motorists would pay. Thousands of pre-paid postcards were handed out to car drivers with several cost against lost time options and requesting them to be put into order. A team of interviewers visited hundreds of transport managers of firms whose lorries had been interviewed on the main roads affected (the M6, A38T & A5T) with laptops to establish how much these firms would be willing to pay on the basis of different road congestion conditions leading to different costs per journey. All of this went to Leeds university who came up with the most comprehensive report as to cost/usage. Are MEL still using this data, corrected for inflation? Has a new survey superceded this?On a different point, the last three times that I travelled on the M6 heading south towards Birmingham I was warned by the advance warning signs of heavy congestion in the Birmingham area and to divert via the Toll road. Driving through Birmingham there was no congestion whatsoever. I just wondered if this was coincidence?

Dave
"Just over half capacity"??? It's almost empty. I only use it if the M6 signs show major congestion. To tow my little sailing dinghy to South Staffs sailing club would cost £16 return. Ridiculous price. The day's sailing is half that!

Richard
The M6 Toll has been a complete waste of time. I live at the north end and have sent my tag back this week and will not be using the road any more. £12 a year to pay for the tag which is the slowest way of getting through the toll plazas as the queue is horrendous. And now the charge is £9 for a return journey... and you end up in a jam at either end because of the hopeless design of the junctions. Traffic on the old M6 is worse than ever proving what a disaster this road has been.

James
Use as little as possible! Can anyone from MEL explain why 9pm+ at night is considered "peak" - no wonder the toll road is running so short of its capacity! Luckily, I use the M6 mainly at a time I consider to be off peak, so the little traffic that does use the Toll has made the M6 easier to use for me - so thankyou to all those people / companies paying all that money - so I don't have to! (and well said Dean - it is underperforming - so MEL increase the prices - am I missing the logic here ??)

John
its little wonder the toll road isnt used by more people.They have just risen the prices AGAIN.its now £4-50 for a car at the times when people need to use it and cheaper at midnight when no-one needs it.A bit arse about face dont you think ? :-)

paul
It's a good road if you are going past 'Brum', but has little other attraction. If it had a direct link with the M5 it would be better. I use the M6 from J2 to J10 most mornings 0630hrs to 0700hrs, It's useless to me most of the time. If I am coming down from the north I find the need to turn onto the M6 most infuriating, it seems to be a sly move in the way the road markings are set out to lead you onto the Toll road. I use it as little as possible now and if the price goes up I will not use it again. If it cost me a couple of quid and not £8 or what ever they think they would like to charge in future I would reconsider.

Steve
It has made a little difference but not much. How about buying it back and reserving it for HGV use and banning HGVs from the old section. I am sure all the drivers would be happy

Dan
I imagine that if the toll was scrapped, the cost of losing the tolls would be more than redeemed to business from having another FREE means of linking businesses between north and south with the associated reduced journey times. Instead, 90% of people sit at a standstill on the M6 while the half-empty Toll Road simply sits there as an additional and unnecessary blot on the English countryside.

Mustapha Leek
We all pay exhorbitant road tax and fuel duty, of which only a minute fraction gets used on building and maintaining roads. This is an example of inneficient, wasteful, incompetent and corrupt government taking our money and abdicating its responsibilities.

D Atkinson
This is a small congested and polluted country - some days the air in and around Birmingham is unbreathable . No one is paying enough to cover the real damage that all this oil based transport is causing. The reality is that diesel and petrol vehicles are being over used now. Traveling is still too cheap and is not a universal right. If you think fuel is expensive now, wait a year or two. Oil could easily be over $150 a barrel in less than 5 years. Oil production has peaked and demand is rising. Look up "peak oil" on the internet. You won't be worrying about tolls in the near future.

Ian R
I've paid my road tax, so why should I pay again. This government needs to get it's act together on so called conjestion. If speed limits were raised and more traffic police were on the road to prevent all the just plain bad driving that no amount of speed cameras can detect, then traffic would move a lot quicked, thus minimising what congestion there is. As for using the toll road, I'd rather sit in a traffic jam than pay for something I've already paid for, but then again as I ride a motorcycle I don't get stuck in traffic!!!!

Dave Smith
Even ignoring the £1 discount on cars when it first opened, the price has risen by 50% in less than 5 years, from £3 to £4.50.What idiot failed to build a price capping clause into the contract? Two Jags I assume.

Dave Johnson
Having used the M6 Toll road only twice I was very impressed by the ease of use and freeflow of traffic. In fact it resembled the M25 when it first opened. I can understand the road hauliers not wishing to increase their costs by using the toll road but this has to be to the advantage of the general motoring public.

Chris
The M6 Toll is wasting road space and not helping congestion on the M6. The government needs to buy the road out, remove the tolls, and then the M6 would finally be on the move again.

Susan
Used to use it, don't now because it's just not worth £4 for the journey I make. £4.50 in 2008 is nonsense.

Gavin
Heavy goods vehicle lobby groups are incorrect when they state that the M6 Toll prices their members off the road. The reality is they arent prepared to pay the real cost for the structural damage to the road that heavy goods vehicles have been proven to cause.

Ted
In one way It's good that it's quiet - if they scrapped the toll charge it would be as horrific as the M6 within weeks. At the moment (if you can afford it) its a definate way to save time on the M6 journey, but there's the rub - 'if you can afford it' - its a road for rich people almost - I work at the end of the toll & would use it every day, but don't - I can't afford to! I use it Monday mornings which are just tragic on the M6, but I guarantee you at 8am on a Monday morning the Toll is fairly busy! (the M6 is stationary). The worst aspect for me, I live in Shropshire, is that the government cancelled the building of the link road to the toll off the M54, when the toll was built, creating the ridiculous situation on the A460 Cannock Road, where it can take half an hour to travel a mile get to the toll. I believe though, after complaints to MEL, that the government now have this link road back on as a priority, and we have even seen 1st phase plans for the routes.If this is the future of road charging, which the government (any government!) seems hell bent on, we will ALL be paying £4 a day to travel to work on any road! See how many people can't afford to travel then! They say you will only be charged if you are travelling at peak times - like I get a choice in that!! I start work at 8.30 - I finish at 5pm - I can't change that, so I'll pay the penalty - along with the the other millions of workers who have no choice.

Dave E.
Having worked in and around the West Midlands for the past 40 years as a service engineer, the past four years have undoubtably been the best. The M6 toll has made such a difference, no more do I have to try and find a way around standing traffic, no more driving all around the island at the top of the M6 to see if it is moving or stationery, no more battling against other drivers trying to find their way around the Midlands. Yes it is a bit pricey, but the releif it has bought is amazing. Yes I do use it when ever I have to, and will continue to do so.

John Kirk
Doesn't take enough traffic away from the M5/M6 junction at peak times. Not enough lorries use it because it is too expensive. Maybe the toll owners don't want the lorries because they wear out the road at a much quicker rate than cars ? Use the Toll sometimes to get back to Sutton Coldfield from Stoke. Pleasant to drive on an uncongested and fast road for the price of a burger !

Susie
It's just too expensive for regular use. The soon to be £4.50 trip is only worth it if there are huge problems on the M6. Going north bound, you still end up in a jam as soon as you've paid anyhow.

Dean
What do the operators expect ? They were under-performing BEFORE they increased the prices. Why should I have to pay over-inflated road tax as well as yet another stealth tax authorised by a government that seems to think it has an automatic right to put its hand in my wallet ?

Scott Mills
how can they expect more traffic if they charge £4.00, and I believe the price has just gone up to £4.50. sheer madness.In the USA they charge you 75 cents. what a difference!!

David
Have used the M6 Toll for occasional visits to the north for the last few years. Last week I bought a Traffic module for my SatNav, which advised of no congestion on the old M6 for both trips, so I avoided the M6 Toll and saved £8 and experienced no delays, although the Toll road does give a more pleasant drive, it is not worth £4 each way.

Brian
These videos are funny - the M6 is running well, but the Toll is completely empty. How fast would you have to go to move at that speed?

AL
I tend to travle quite a lot of miles, mostly outside of rush hour and have used the M6 Toll on many occasions as a quick way from the NEC area to Cannock/Burntwood area. Even 'out of hours' it is annoyingly expensive - the only times I haven't begrudged paying so much is while escaping from our friends with the funny blue lights on their cars ;-)however as a nice long stretch of road upon which you can travel at quite reasonable pace without the usual collection of bumps and idiots - it is great!

Tony Browne
Use it at least once a week between North and South....great! Just needs extending to Manchester now!

colin reynolds
we all pay more than enough tax to the government.... after 4 years of direct tariff lets try to have a sensable understanding to abolsh the charge and then see the real use of this orbital moterway ie M25 london

john hurley
it is a very good road, but very expensive. i only use it if i realy have to

Trevor Woodward
What a waste of a national resource! The governmaent needs to pay the operators a fixed fee for the use and maintenance. Scrap the tolls and encourage all M6 users, especially heavy goods vehicles, to use it.