TIF scrapped on back of Greater Manchester’s rejection

THE death knell has finally tolled for the Transport Innovation Fund after it was overwhelmingly rejected in Greater Manchester.

The government has finally abandoned its pay-as-you-drive national road pricing scheme 14 months after plans to implement charging in the north west were abandoned.

Only drivers in London and Durham – where schemes have already been introduced – will have to pay for the foreseeable future.

Under plans unveiled by the Department for Transport, councils will no longer have to bring in tolls to receive a slice of the former ‘Transport Innovation Fund’ which has now been rebranded as the ‘Urban Challenge Fund’.

They will simply have to demonstrate that their transport strategies will cut congestion and pollution by promoting alternative modes of transport.

A spokesman for the AA confirmed that the negative public reaction to Greater Manchester’s TIF bid is likely to have influenced the government’s decision.

He said: “In effect, the TIF – which was akin to a bribery pot – has gone and that is likely to have had much to do with the thumbs down it received in Greater Manchester.

“But it doesn’t mean that we will not see smaller schemes implemented in the future as national legislation like the Transport Act 2000 remains in place.

“This allows authorities the opportunity to create workplace parking schemes if they feel that they are appropriate.

“What we wait to see now is how much funding will be available under the Urban Challenge Fund.”

Initially, seven areas voiced an interest in the TIF which were: a consortium comprising Bristol, Bath and North East Somerset and South Gloucestershire; Cambridgeshire; Durham County Council; Greater Manchester; Shropshire; Tyne and Wear; and West Midlands.

The government’s hopes of finding a major urban area to implement the scheme were dealt an almost fatal blow in December 2008 when voters in Greater Manchester overwhelmingly rejected plans for an urban congestion scheme which would have cost around £5 a day.

All fell by the wayside, except for Durham, where motorists now face a £2 charge. London already had a city centre congestion charge zone imposed in 2003.