The great M6 toll road swindle

[Ariel Badger]

In an attempt to reclaim the cash paid out the govt try to entice you to use the toll road by putting lies on the overhead boards on the M6. Generally they say "M6 congested, M6 toll clear", last week they had "M6 expect half hour delay, M6 toll clear" I used the M6. My sat nav actually showed that I lost four Minuit's through the affected area. They are desperate to get us to use the toll road, ignore them.
____________________
Bikers make great organ donors, get 115 on your licence today.

[ricky_v]

Being a cynical person (towards the govt.) i knew that from the day i first drove through Birmingham on the M6.

Midland Expressway ltd invested millions into that motorway, an australian comapny who owns MEL is very much in debt.

[Smooth]

I've noticed the very same thing.

My rule is:

Travelling on business use the toll road, in my own time use the M6
____________________
TDM850

[Ariel Badger]

I was heading north to a race meeting last year at about 6.30 on a Sunday morning on the M6. The road was dead clear but where it ran parallel to the toll road I could see cars using it.... FFS why?
____________________
Bikers make great organ donors, get 115 on your licence today.

[Smooth]

Do vehicles only pay for the middle section? If so, it may be possible to drive on to acces the M6 for free.

I certainly wouldn't be paying at 06:30 on a sunday
____________________
TDM850

[Kris]

Three weeks ago I used the M6 toll road on the way back from Manchester.

I figured it's a novelty using a toll road in the UK and being a nosey bugger I wanted to see what the fuss was about.

In all honesty I thought it was quite expensive and a bit 'meh' as they say. Mind you I did like the fact that I had the road to pretty much myself and did see 135 on the clocks for a while.

Pointless road really, wouldn't use it again IMO. Oh and I saw the very same signs and it was a quiet day on the roads.
____________________
NSR125RR - ZXR750H1 - ZX9R E1 - GSF600S - GSF600SK3 - VFR400-NC30 - SV1000N - ST1100-R - CBR900RR-R - GSF1200SK5 - GSF600SK1 - VFR1200FA - GSXR1000K2 - ZZR1400 D8F
www.prisonplanet.com

[Skudd]

Never use it, have and always will use the old M6
____________________
Famous last words of Humpty Dumpty. " Stop pushing me "
Petty Anarchists look at "1984".............. The Visionary looks at "Animal Farm".

[Ichy]

[Smooth]

[Ichy]

Dude, you lost the concept, you need to ensure that you plan for the win. For business travel I always have a large bagette stuffed with the favourite food of the week, a 2 litre bottle of dandelion and burdock, my PSP, at least 2 MP3 cds in the player and a couple of bike magazines. For the bonus my car is a convertible. I can spend days on the M6 and still be happy.




Seriously, I travel to Coventry from Crewe regularly. I can do it in less than an hour easily on a regular basis. My favourite ride is from LLanelli (sorry if its spelt wrong but its you Welsh with your wierd alphabet that cause the problem) to North of Stoke, something I do at least once a month. Only takes a few hours even on a Friday, boring as hell but easy.
____________________
https://www.metacafe.com/watch/1972097/how_to_behave_on_a_forum/

[ncrn]

The only time I've ridden down the M6 it said that the M6 toll was clear and M6 was congested, they were right it was congested on the M6. However I just filtered through the traffic. I was heading from Scotland to Bristol so it would have just added time to my journey to travel round.

I think its a bit of a piss take that bikers have to pay to use it however...
____________________
Past: 55 Sym Jet, 91 ZZR250, 03 NSR125R. Present: 97 ER-5.
https://www.nsr125.co.uk - NSR Owners forum.

[Phoenix]

I'm not sure that this is a scam to get people onto the toll road because it's not just the M6 they do it with. I spend all day on the motorways and they are always posting messages up saying congestion or delays and most of the time it's never true or accurate. The motorways all around Birmingham are especially bad for this, that's the M5, M6 and M42.

The M42 stretch near the NEC where they recently installed the variable speed limit is a joke, every night they have messages up saying "incident, slow" or "congestion" or "workforce in road" and they activate the speed limits forcing you to do 40 usually but often down to 20! and every single time without fail there is absolutely nothing on the motorway. The entire highways agency control room that operates the message boards should be showered with bullets.

[andyscooter]

[Smooth]

[Kickstart]

Hi

I live about 10~15 miles from the M6 Toll. Nearest I have come to using it is being a passenger in a car on it.

Object on principle to paying extra for a road after a hideous amount is already taken for using roads.

Less people who use it the quicker the owners will go bust.

All the best

Keith
____________________
Traxpics, track day and racing photographs - Bimota Forum - Bike performance / thrust graphs for choosing gearing

[magpiemale]

Never have used the toll road never will either on bike or car,well unless an accident bad enough to close the M6 causes me to otherwise.Which would be like winning the lottery (chances of me and an accident at the same time)
____________________
NSR125 1992 (sold) kawasaki Z750S,fazer FZ1 07 now gone present bike 2012 fz1s Fazer,beowulf rad protector,heated grips,sw motech gps holder,power socket.

[metalangel]

They run the 407 in Toronto too, eh? What a surprise, that's an overpriced load of shit too - people tend to avoid it unless they're travelling on business.

That sort of toll thing only really makes money if people *have to* use it - like the Severn Bridges.
____________________
Previous: 2002 Honda CB500 (sold), 2007 Suzuki SV650SK6 (crashed), 2005 Yamaha FZ6 Fazer (sold). Currently bikeless
"A faired bike will get you 10x more clunge than a unfaired one." -Marlboro Matt

[karoshi]

[Visitor Q]

Didn't I also hear that the M6 toll is full of speed cameras?
____________________
China traffic/travel bike vid - When I make a sweeping statement, please add the word 'statistically' in to the sentence before you bitch...
From September 2014 to January/February 2015 I will not be using any English, nor reading any. As such, I won't be on here. PM at will, but I won't be checking/posting unless in emergencies. Certainly not for the first couple of months. Please berate me savagely if I break that rule...

[Wafer_Thin_Ham]

[krebsy]

I had a good run from the gates one night. Pulled up with no traffic about, paid, zipped up my pockets, popped the glove back on and went to head off. Whilst I was getting sorted, a merc, BMW and a few Audis had all whizzed up to their gates then we all set off together.

Cue lots of vehicles sprinting together across to the 3 lanes in the distance and the ZZR wiping the floor with the lot of them .

Is it still technically classified as a Private road? If so, surely they could close it off for a day and sell tickets, turning it into two sprint sections between the M42 and the services at the North end. I'd pay good money to rag it like a nutter up and down it..

K.
____________________
What's my New Year's resolution?

1280 x 1024.

[simonveasey]

I always use the old A5 from Nuneaton through Tamworth and rejoin the M6 at Gailey Roundabout ... probably not as fast but at least there is something to look at on the way

[Harold_Shand]

I always use the toll-road, I think it's worth a fiver. There's no cameras and no one else on it. As soon as one camera goes up, I'll stop using it. All you paupers don't like it because you can't afford it.

Fiver well spent in my book
____________________
BCF's 6th favourite poster 2009-2010

Harold_Shand's theory might be the best explanation.

[Noxious89123]

Only been on it once as a passenger in a car, and the toll booth drag start is very cool
____________________
'06 Honda CBR125RW-6 ~ '00 Honda CBR600F-Y ~ '07 Honda CBR600RR-7 ~ Bikeless
'53 Ford Ka 1.3 ~ '03 Vauxhall Astra SRi 1.8 ~ '52 Vauxhall Astra SRi 2.2 ~ '53 Vauxhall Astra GSi

[JonB]

M6 Toll road is a racetrack and for that reason alone, ragging my Citroen C1 was well worth the fiver.

I kid you not, the slowest car will be going 90. Seriously.
____________________
Be careful whose advice you buy, but, be patient with those who supply it. Advice is a form of nostalgia, dispensing it is a way of fishing the past from the disposal, wiping it off, painting over the ugly parts and recycling it for more than it?s worth.