Car insurance customers are among the residents of Greater Manchester who have voted against the introduction of a congestion charge in the city, it has been announced.The majority of people in all ten council areas which make up the unitary authority voted against the road pricing scheme.Nigel Humphries, from the Association of British Drivers, comments: “This is a great result.”He says the people of Manchester have “seen through the great government transport bribe” and rejected the scheme.Meanwhile, the Freight Transport Association (FTA) states more reliable cross-town commercial deliveries, which would have been engendered by peak time traffic control, will not be possible as a result of the vote.”This decision is a real missed opportunity,” comments Malcolm Bingham, FTA head of policy for the north of England, adding the organisation was confident the congestion charge would represent a real benefit to businesses and the logistics sector in the region.Support for the government’s plans to consider vehicle mileage - as well as carbon dioxide emissions - in the motoring taxation system has been identified in new research.Carried out by The Green Car Website, the study asked car insurance customers whether they would prefer a pay-per-mile system of road tax or the current system, which only takes vehicle emissions into account.A total of 53.5 per cent of respondents voted in favour of the former, with 46.5 per cent not backing it.The organisation suggests the split vote can be attributed to the differing opinion of those car insurance customers who have a high annual mileage and those who do not.Faye Sutherland, editor of the online resource, states: “If the government was to reform taxation completely, road pricing schemes could form a simpler system of taxation. She adds: “It could ease congestion and encourage the development of out-of-town areas.”In other motoring news, voting on the Greater Manchester congestion charge is set to close on December 11th.












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