Action Briefing Feb 2004-Mar 2004
	The Newsletter of Birmingham Friends of the Earth

West Midlands News

BNRR: the mounting toll?

Average usage of the M6 Toll (BNRR) for January was down to just over 30,000 vehicles per day (vpd), bringing in a daily revenue of around £60,000 (assuming the vast majority of users are cars charged £2 a go). Will this return a pofit on the investment or are we already witnessing yet another toll road in fiscal trouble?

The original target was 75,000 vpd a day, but at what price? This, of course, is not known outside the secret concession agreement. However, as the website (www.m6toll.co.uk) says “Caution should be exercised in forming conclusions based on this data as traffic varied considerably from day to day through the January period from a low of 17,845 to a high of 41,096.” In a well-hidden announcement on 5th February, toll operators Midland Expressway Ltd. (MEL) dropped their prices for 2-axle lorries and coaches to £5, to last until June of this year.

The press are getting stuck into MEL, uncovering their activities in Canada as well as some of the conditions hidden in the concession agreement, leading the great and good to start asking “they can't get away with that, can they?” It's a shame these notable worthies didn’t speak up earlier, either during the public inquiry or in support of the legal challenges made by the Alliance.

It remains to be seen if drivers are prepared to pay the current prices, and keep paying once prices rise after the 10 millionth paying customer. Indeed, if it takes far longer to pass that benchmark, will MEL have the confidence to put up their prices? After all, if things were going to plan the prices should be going up around 130 days after opening, mid April, but at 30,000 vpd this benchmark won't be passed until November, nearly one full year after opening.

Drivers have complained of the confusing configuration of the junctions, with lobbies from Shropshire and Telford demanding a link road from the M54 to the M6 North, and in turn a connection to the M6 Toll. This will be tracked by local campaigners, as will the Highways Agency study of the M6 in Warwickshire; their analysis of the impact of the M6 Toll is due in the Spring. We have also been involved in initial discussions on a route management study for the M6 in Staffordshire, which will have implications for the communities along the road.

Chris Crean