New prices for the M6 toll, tailored pricing plans, and an off-peak rate are set to come into effect next month. Midland Expressway Limited (MEL), the operator of the M6 toll, has now announced the new toll prices which will come into effect from 00:00hrs on Friday 12th July. Prices will rise between 10p and 30p for motorbikes and cars, between 10 and 50p for light goods vehicles and between 20p and 50p for heavy goods vehicles, depending on the time of travel. Weekday pricing will also change from the current night and day rates to now include an additional off-peak discounted rate.
This off-peak rate will apply for drivers travelling on Monday to Friday between 5am – 7am and 7pm – 11pm.
Car users, motorcyclists and car’s with trailers and HGVs will pay 10p less during off-peak hours while van and motorhome users will pay 20p less.
Another change to the toll is now the introduction of new pricing options which are more suitable for motorists who use the toll frequently.
A service called Hopper caps weekly travel to £35 a week based on 10 return trips, which could save drivers over 35 per cent a month.
Shuttle allows commuters to benefit from unlimited local journeys for £20 a week, which would save the average driver over £100 a month based on a commuting week.
For those travelling longer distances, ReturnPass provides a 20 per cent saving on every same-day return journey.
Andy Cliffe, chief executive at MEL, said: “The M6 toll has been alleviating huge volumes of traffic from the M6 and its surrounding roads for more than 15 years, providing a safer and more reliable route around the Midlands.
“The M6 toll is significantly faster than alternative routes, making planning more accurate for businesses and individuals and boosting overall efficiency.
“We’re committed to making our route stress-free and reliable for all, that’s why we’ve put customer feedback at the heart of our new off-peak price bands and our recent product trials to cap prices and offer attractive savings to local and/or frequent users, ensuring we maximise the positive impact of the M6toll across the Midlands and beyond.”
The M6 toll was originally built to move long-distance traffic off the regularly heavily congested M6 motorway.
Every day around 50,000 people uses the toll road which is around 18.2 million every year.
During peak times up to 55 per cent of trucks and 85 per cent of cars making long-distance journeys through the M6 use the M6 toll.
“Since 2014 we’ve seen a 14% increase in trucks using our road – a recent industry study of HGVs shows that the M6toll is a safer road for travel than the M6 owing to a much lower accident rate, and with better fuel economy due to free-flowing traffic, HGV users also benefit from reduced fuel costs and emissions.
“We remain committed to increasing the volume of HGV traffic using the M6toll in preference to the M6 or local roads, and ensure that our incentives for new HGV customers and pricing deals for commercial operators are innovative and attractive.”
Steve Gooding, director of the RAC Foundation, commented: “Whilst the discount packages being introduced will appeal to regular commuters already using the M6 Toll, it seems unlikely the new, modestly-reduced off-peak rate in the early morning and mid-evening will do much to tempt a significant amount of traffic away from the original M6.
“For those willing to fork out, the M6 Toll offers 27 miles of free-flowing respite from the congestion on other routes, but given the volumes of traffic – particularly lorries – in this part of the world, it is hard to see why a better outcome for more drivers couldn’t be achieved by integrating it, toll-free, into the Highways England network.”
Source: Read Full Article