1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148
149
150
151
152
153
154
155
156
157
158
159
160
161
162
163
164
165
166
167
168
169
170
171
172
173
174
175
176
177
178
179
180
181
182
183
184
185
186
187
188
189
190
191
192 
West Midlands traffic debate thrown open
Page 19
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
THOUSANDS OF' businesses are being invited to join the debate on how best to tackle the problem of worsening traffic congestion in the West Midlands.
An online survey has been drawn up to gauge business attitudes towards road charging there and in Shrewsbury.
A £1.2m government-funded feasibility study into the issue is due to be completed this month (July) but involves only 300 phone interviews and 30 face-to-face interviews with business bosses.
The online survey is open to all businesses and is being carried out by the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW) and the West Midlands Business Council, an umbrella organisation of business groups.
Nigel Hastilow, regional manager of the ICAEW, says many people assume congestion charging will be introduced in the region. "If you can demonstrate that it is damaging to business then it is going to be very difficult to sustain the argument that it is necessary," he says.
The Road Haulage Association argues that if road pricing is adopted to reduce congestion in the region. trucks should be exempt because they have to be on the roads anyway (CM 27 April).
The online survey can be found at www.icaew.co.uldresearch/wmt/ wmt_survey_06.htm