Manchester, UK seeks IT-slinger: £235m for number-plate-and-fines system to clean up vehicle emissions

The transport authority for Greater Manchester in northwest England is seeking an IT systems maker to help build a clean air zone scheme and fine drivers of prohibited vehicles in a deal which could be worth up to £235m. The project involves building systems for number plate recognition (ANPR), managing payments of fines and …

[Anonymous Coward]

The transport authority for Greater Manchester in northeast England ?

Geography fail, it's in Northwest England

There is life beyond the M25, it's not a myth.

[Anonymous Coward]

Greater Manchester in northeast England

Wrong side of the Pennines. We don't want them Manc's over here on this side.

[PTW]

Re: AC have a pint

Yorkshire, right side of the Pennines in every respect. Although, you can always tell a lad from Leeds, but you can't tell him much!

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: Greater Manchester in northeast England

>Wrong side of the Pennines. We don't want them Manc's over here on this side.

God put the Pennines there to keep Yorkshire out of Lancashire, we don't want any of that tightarsery over here.

[Doctor Syntax]

Re: Greater Manchester in northeast England

In that case nicking Saddleworth & Greenfield and adding them to Greater Manchester should have sent someone to seek absolution.

[diodesign]

Northwest

Thanks - it's fixed. Don't forget to email [e-mail] if you spot anything wrong. That way we can fix stuff as soon as it comes in; there's some latency in reading article comments.

C.

[Chris 239]

Re: Northwest

That may be true, but it's far more entertaining point out mistakes in the forum! :-)

[Anonymous Coward]

So they're still pushing for a "congestion charge" (spite tax), even after we told them to fsck off a few years ago.

Bet TfGM are really sulking now public transport is seen as a health risk and normal weather (= rain) has returned and put everyone off using push-bikes.

[Anonymous Coward]

Hopefully CV19 will end such nastiness from public sector workers who hate private transportation.

[Nonymous Crowd Nerd]

The seems like quite a high price tag for re-using technology that's already up and running in London and to some extent, as the article mentions, Sheffield and probably a few other places too.

[Chris G]

High Price Tag

Could it be there is already a player in the wings?

[ThereBePirates]

ANPR

Hopefully more than just the number plate, otherwise there will be a lot of cloning happening and random car owners around the UK getting letters from a Ford Transit or some other driving into Manchester.

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: ANPR

I avoid driving in Manchester. Those cobbled streets are hell in my Lamborghini.

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: ANPR

Coronation Street is a fictional drama where as reality is somewhat different, was this your car, Sir ?

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-manchester-53305810

[Glen 1]

Re: ANPR

As fictional as his Lambo, so that checks out.

[CAPS LOCK]

"Coronation Street" It's a real place and on the corner is...

...Salford Lads Club, most famous T'Smiths amongst others.

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: ANPR

"Those cobbled streets are hell in my Lamborghini."

You do know Lamborghini also make tractors, right ?

[Doctor Syntax]

Re: ANPR

"I avoid driving in Manchester."

I was thinking the same and them remembered I have to go through bits of Greater Manchester to get to the M6.

[David Hicklin]

Re: ANPR

Happened to me: my horsebox (!) plate cloned onto a volvo car..wrong colour as well.

Successfully challenged it but TFL make it as hard as possible to find on their website - and there is no option (or wasn't back then) for "cloned plates".

[Lotaresco]

Good luck

It will be quite impressive to see anyone making money from cars via a Kengestion charge on that footbridge linking the Lowry to the War Museum.

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: Good luck

The scheme doesn't include charging private cars, but one could be forgiven for not realising that given the way the article has been written.

[TeeCee]

Re: Good luck

Of course not, that would be phase II.

As in; "we're a bit short of cash for ${mayors_pet_project_this_week}, dig into the config and switch that bit on".

[wyatt]

Interesting point about decommissioning. Once all the vehicles are compliant (or most..) entering the zone there's no income so the zone will start costing to run. Or they'll just change the standard and charge more people.

[martinusher]

>Or they'll just change the standard and charge more people.

This is a Congestion Charging scheme dressed up as a Clean Air initiative. The original Congestion Charge proposals were a bit draconian -- Manchester is a bit more compact than London and hasn't got the extensive network of train and tube services so from what I saw most Mancs would have to pony up just to leave the house -- so I daresay they were shelved as potential political suicide. Introducing them as a "Clean Air" initiative with the vague promise that maybe they'll be withdrawn at some future date.....come on, does anyone seriously believe this stuff?

[Anonymous Coward]

The point is ending private transportation. It's been an obsession for certain people for decades.

You may not have heard but the latest thing is that even when [!] all cars are electric, they'll still need banning because of the dust from tyre rubber.

You can't appease these people. Best to just lock them up.

(Mines the one with the McCarthy style list in the pocket.)

[Doctor Syntax]

"The Reg is sure Transport for Greater Manchester will keep itself clear of such weaknesses."

If Sheffield gets hammered on this it might help concentrate their minds.

[Cynic_999]

Normal contract?

Will this be a normal government IT project, or does it need to actually work after the money has been spent?

[Anonymous Coward]

"UK to reduce harmful nitrogen dioxide (NO2) levels."

All of that is BS, NO2 isn't really relevant in any town and it's really a movement tax. You move, you pay.

Also abolishing free movement when every movement is recorded and stored permantly, to be used later. Green fascism taken to Stasi-level.

That's the actual goal and excuses are so bad no-one actually believes them.

[John Brown (no body)]

"All of that is BS, NO2 isn't really relevant in any town and it's really a movement tax. You move, you pay."

Does that mean we'll all need a "Smart" shitter with a camera and fingerprint scanner?

[Anonymous Coward]

All of that is BS, NO2 isn't really relevant in any town

Right, all of the research on NO2 is just wrong because someone too frightened to identify themself says so. Of course it is.

I feel sorry for people like you – people driven by the mindless fear of change and the complete inability to reason about, well, anything – people whose sense of well-being is so dependent on having a car – people who are so frightened of cyclists (I always suspect because people who cycle a lot get to look kind of fit, and not like blobs of dirty grease). It must be horrid being you.

Well, ten years ago I used to feel sorry: since you've managed to take over great chunks of the world and deny us all a future I feel less sorry. You still must have horrible lives but you've doomed the rest of us – the people not driven by fear and the inability to think – to horrible lives as well. So thanks for that.

And before you whine on: yes, I have a car. In fact I have two, although one was made in 1930 and does not currently run. And as you might gather from that second car, I'm quite interested in cars: I'm just not stupid.

[Intractable Potsherd]

"Well, ten years ago I used to feel sorry: since you've managed to take over great chunks of the world and deny us all a future I feel less sorry. You still must have horrible lives but you've doomed the rest of us – the people not driven by fear and the inability to think – to horrible lives as well. So thanks for that."

Such utter, doom-mongering bollocks is hard to counter. You and your ilk are the ones perpetually frightened, and lack the ability to think.

[[e-mail]]

"Well, ten years ago I used to feel sorry: since you've managed to take over great chunks of the world and deny us all a future I feel less sorry. You still must have horrible lives but you've doomed the rest of us – the people not driven by fear and the inability to think – to horrible lives as well. So thanks for that."

What? Taken over what "great chunks of the world"? Denied you (and who exactly is "us all"?) a future how? If you're not driven by fear, why are you so scared about another bogeyman YOU cannot measure yourself but have to rely on those with a vested interest in PROVING it is increasing proving it is increasing?

"people who are so frightened of cyclists "

I am a driver, a cyclist and a pedestrian - and some of the worst PAVEMENT (or the footpath/sidewalk/pavement/whatever you want to call it) users I have the misfortune to encounter are the lycra-clad Cyclists who seem to think they have right-of-way everywhere and nobody else should ever get in their way. I'm guessing you are one of them. Sensible cyclists - those who obey the law and ride in a safe, considerate, manner are no problem. The obliviots who ride like they are the only road or pavement users who should be there are a danger to themselves and everyone around them.

[Anonymous Coward]

lycra-clad Cyclists

A Mamil. The worst type of cyclist. Look like they are about to do the Tour De France and like strutting round the office with it all on show...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mamil