Vehicle numbers using the M6 Toll have increased markedly according to statistics revealed this week. In the final three months of 2013 an average of 46,200 vehicles travelled on the tolled motorway during the working week, a 12% rise on the same period the year before.

Midland Expressway chief executive Thomas Fanning said: “We are very pleased to see such a surge in use throughout 2013 from both private and commercial patronage.” He went on to suggest that the rise could be partly due to motorists wishing to avoid ongoing roadworks on the nearby M6. But he also suggested that rising traffic numbers may reflect renewed confidence in the UK economy.

RAC Foundation director Professor Stephen Glaister said: “It is welcome that the number of drivers using this piece of road is creeping back up. A country desperately short of infrastructure and already with the busiest road network in Europe cannot afford to see existing capacity underused.”

The operator is right to say, he added, that a recovering economy and roadworks on the M6 will drive traffic on to the toll route. “But they are still some way off their daily peak for this time of year of 56,000 vehicles seen back in 2007. Ultimately demand comes down to pricing. If they want more traffic then they could get more by lowering the cost to motorists.”

Photo: Adrian Bailey

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