"London to consider scrapping congestion charge for economy's sake"

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London Mayor Boris Johnson is considering scrapping the city's oft-maligned Congestion Charge. The pay-to-drive strategy was instituted back in 2003 as a way of reducing traffic in the busy British capital, but it has met with fierce opposition from motorists and some politicians. Shortly after taking office, Johnson got rid of the latest extension which instituted the C-Charge in western parts of the city, but the Congestion Charge Zone is still alive and well in Central London. While it may be effective in reducing traffic (though that's often debated as well), the charge of ?8 to enter the CCZ, along with fines of between ?60 and ?180 for non-payment seems to be enough to keep shoppers out of London during the holiday season, so it has been temporarily suspended. To help boost the city's ailing economy, Johnson is extending the downtime through January 1.

When asked if he would consider ridding the city of the C-Charge completely, Johnson didn't immediately discount the idea, saying that he'd "brood on it" for a while. While it's obvious that London has a serious congestion problem, in these troubled economic times, financial problems might take priority. Stay tuned.

http://www.pistonheads.com/news/default.asp?storyId=19143
 
Yea!!! That means it will be less likely to enter the US (not that it would have otherwise)

*edit: At least the west coast area. I forgot about the NYC proposal
 
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I like Boris. I Think him and Jeremy together... Not what you're thinking about, but would be great :D
 
I'm in two minds about this. The congestion charge has definitely made London less congested, but then again it's buerocratic, confusing and it's unpopular. A trial like Boris is doing is certainly a good idea because then we can see how effective it really is.
 
I'm in two minds about this. The congestion charge has definitely made London less congested, but then again it's buerocratic, confusing and it's unpopular. A trial like Boris is doing is certainly a good idea because then we can see how effective it really is.

As far as I can tell, all it really did was price the underclass out of London. It may have solved the congestion problem, but nuking central London would have as well... there were plenty of more intelligent solutions available.
 
What I don't understand about the charge is, what if you live in the zone, but you don't drive your car for say 2 days a week. Do you still get charged for those two days?
 
What I don't understand about the charge is, what if you live in the zone, but you don't drive your car for say 2 days a week. Do you still get charged for those two days?

Residents of the zone are eligible for a 90% discount if they pay the charge for a week or more at once, although there are administration charges ? presently a minimum of ?10 ? for claiming the discount. Some residents who live close to the West London extension are also entitled to the resident's discount.

Wikipedia.

Ooh, the lefties won't like this! Do it, Boris, be the bastion of sanity in an increasingly idiotic country!

I disagree; the congestion charge in the centre of London is entirely sensible, for the following reasons :

1. You have to be insane to take a car into central London. Even with the Charge there's still a fair amount of congestion, and more to the point parking's impossible.
2. London has excellent public transport links - tube, DLR, bus, boat, and trains. Even if you don't live near any of the above it's probably easier (and cheaper) to drive to a park-and-ride tube/DLR/bus/boat/train station and public transport from there.

Transport for London (the london transport body) plug all profits from the charge into public transport improvements, which is how it should be.
 
Yes! Brilliant! I have friends in London and having to pay ?8 every damn time is really annoying. Sure, it might keep the underclasses on trains- catering to the global-warming-ists again- but London hasn't become any less congested than before. Drop the charges, Boris!
 
Yes! Brilliant! I have friends in London and having to pay ?8 every damn time is really annoying. Sure, it might keep the underclasses on trains- catering to the global-warming-ists again- but London hasn't become any less congested than before. Drop the charges, Boris!

It has in fact reduced the number of cars in central London.

By 16 percent.

I'm linking to Wikipedia because it cites a TfL pdf file which is huge and nobody will bother to read.
 
It has in fact reduced the number of cars in central London.

By 16 percent.

I'm linking to Wikipedia because it cites a TfL pdf file which is huge and nobody will bother to read.

Ah. Well, number's don't lie, I suppose, but when I visit London it is for all intents and purposes just as crowded as before.
 
OK I pay Road tax 120 GBP and 150 GBP per car and now I have to pay it again - to go into London and/or to use the M6 (Charged bit).

This stuff does seem to be aimed at hitting the poor I must say.
 
OK I pay Road tax 120 GBP and 150 GBP per car and now I have to pay it again - to go into London and/or to use the M6 (Charged bit).

This stuff does seem to be aimed at hitting the poor I must say.

Don't move to France, where a large chunk of the motorways are toll roads, then!

I think that the British public would accept paying for things like toll motorways and town centres, if there was a visable improvement in services along with them.

The M6 (toll road), for example, offers nothing other than the fact it's less busy than the regular M6.

On the other hand French autoroutes have 'rest stops' every so many kilometres, and food you'd actually want to eat at roadside cafes.

Again with town centres. There's no point putting a congestion charge scheme in place in (say) West Bumfuck, Essex, because there's no way to get there without a car. In London it does make some sense. In Edinburgh (city centre is a traffic jam nightmare and all buses cost ?1.10 no matter where or how far you go) it makes some (but not enough) sense.


I guess what I'm arguing is that the revenue from fuel tax and car tax and all the other motoring taxes should go back into things that benefit the motorist - better roads, better motorways, more rest stops, and cheaper public transport. And not into Gordon Brown's coffers.
 
Lowering taxes on the middle class will benefit the economy?

What a breakthrough in rational thought!
 
I'm in two minds about this. The congestion charge has definitely made London less congested, but then again it's buerocratic, confusing and it's unpopular. A trial like Boris is doing is certainly a good idea because then we can see how effective it really is.

i agree...im not sure its quite linked, but then i guess this was the idea..get the cars out, get everyone on buses and tubes.

now i havent been to london very often, given where i live, but on the occasions i have been i have to say that as far as uk public services go the oyster card + the buses and tube system worked quite well.

now theyre not exactly the pinnacle of efficiency i know but i never really had to wait all that long for either bus or tube train and it got me about to where i wanted to go rather nicely and for reasonable price (they use a zone system rather than paying different amounts for every stop). i always had a seat on a bus (which were very modern might i add) and never had trouble getting on a tube....though sometimes it was well crowded (but thats just part n parcel of london, part of the experience)

i honestly did think why do you even need a car in london....the transport system seems to work rather adequately. i thought much the same of new york and its subway system too.

while i was there there (london) still seemed to be a fair few cars on the road....with a few more i can easily see the situation the charge attempted to avoid. but as always, our government go about these things in a very arse about tit way -- with lashings of red tape and hoops.
 
Lowering taxes on the middle class will benefit the economy?

What a breakthrough in rational thought!

so far this has worked wonders with the VAT reduction...

/sarcasm


now i havent been to london very often, given where i live, but on the occasions i have been i have to say that as far as uk public services go the oyster card + the buses and tube system worked quite well.

now theyre not exactly the pinnacle of efficiency i know but i never really had to wait all that long for either bus or tube train and it got me about to where i wanted to go rather nicely and for reasonable price (they use a zone system rather than paying different amounts for every stop). i always had a seat on a bus (which were very modern might i add) and never had trouble getting on a tube....though sometimes it was well crowded (but thats just part n parcel of london, part of the experience)

I agree that, on the whole, London transport works well.

Pity those of us who don't have an oyster card though - ?4 for a single on the tube! I can feel my anus being violated as I pay for that.
 
so far this has worked wonders with the VAT reduction...

/sarcasm




I agree that, on the whole, London transport works well.

Pity those of us who don't have an oyster card though - ?4 for a single on the tube! I can feel my anus being violated as I pay for that.

You don't want to catch public transport here then, it's expensive and slow and often arrives late. I waited 20 mins yesterday for a tram that supposedly comes every 5 mins.
 
so far this has worked wonders with the VAT reduction...

/sarcasm




I agree that, on the whole, London transport works well.

Pity those of us who don't have an oyster card though - ?4 for a single on the tube! I can feel my anus being violated as I pay for that.

ah well i got given a spare oyster card by my then gf........and i still have it! :p i dunno how much they cost but dayum they seem worth it
 
You don't want to catch public transport here then, it's expensive and slow and often arrives late. I waited 20 mins yesterday for a tram that supposedly comes every 5 mins.

Ha! I can top that. I was waiting for a bus that apparently arrives every 7 or 13 minutes for over an hour. In the middle of summer. This was not coincidentally the last time I rode on public transit.
 
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