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General

• London zone (before the western extension) is only 1.4% of the total London area, (zone is 22 square kilometres, London is 1,579 square kilometres). The zone is in the central part of London but does not cover the whole of the centre.
  The Mayor decided (after a consultation which he ignored) to almost double the size by extending to the western side of the Inner Ring Road.
  
  
• London traffic could drive round the original Toll Zone using the Inner Ring Road, which is a complete loop and formed the boundary. Following the extension, the "zone" is split by a free corridor down the middle - along Edgeware Road, Park Lane, Grosvenor Place, Vauxhall Bridge Road and across the Thames. It is also possible to drive through the north west corner without "entering" the zone.
  Transport for London map of the zone   Note that the two free corridors are marked on the map in white.
  
  
• Car traffic in the London zone has fallen by about 30%. Other traffic has increased. There are no comprehensive figures for what has happened outside the London Zone, and opinions differ as to whether it is better or worse. But it appears that over London as a whole the Toll Zone has had little effect on traffic or air quality:-  BBC 27 October 2004 - Road toll 'fails to cut traffic'
  
  
• The London scheme applies to vehicles driving within the Zone. But drivers living within the Zone get a 90% discount, so almost all the tolls comes from those entering the zone each day.
  
  
• Scheme only operates Monday to Friday during the working day - from 7 in the morning to 6.00 in the evening. (The Scheme originally operated till 6.30 in the evening, but this was changed from 19th February 2007 when the zone was extended to the west.)
  
  
• With the current charge there are about 100,000 vehicles a day that pay to drive within the London Zone together with a considerable number that are exempt or partly exempt from the charge.
  
  
• Large numbers of people in London avoid payment by various means.
  
  
• Charges and income
  The London scheme charge is £8 a day from 4 July 2005, the old charge was £5.
  Income in the year to March 2005 was £218 million and expenditure was £122 million. This is only shown in a note to the accounts, and it is not possible to tell whether all costs are shown or how capital costs have been treated. Transport for London - 2004/05 Accounts  (note 27 page 42)
  The figures for the previous two years are:- 2003/04 Income £187 million and Expenditure £142 million; 2004/05 Income £18 million and Expenditure £76 million.
  
  
• Reduction in business within the London zone. You can see some of the recent reports in the next but one section.

• What are the vehicle flows within and without the Toll Zones? This needs to be broken down between exempt / partly exempt / paying vehicles. It also needs to show the effect on different areas, i.e. within the zone and without it.
• Effect on air quality both within the zones and outside.
• Effect on jobs and business inside the zones.
• How many people are avoiding payment.
• Cost of the schemes and how is it made up.
• Income from the schemes and how is it made up.

Opposition to westward extension

Recent protests - A "go slow" drive on Saturday 17th February 2007 starting at Addison Road was organised by the West London Residents Association and others. It assembled in Addison Road (north of the corner of Addison Road and Addison Crescent), Kensington, W14 at 10.30 AM for a drive start at 11 AM. The drive route was - Head south through Earls Court,   Right in to Fulham Road,   Through Fulham Broadway,   Right in to North End Road,   Left at Lillie Road Roundabout,   Right in to Fulham Palace Road,   Round the Broadway in to King St,   Right into Goldhawk Road and through to Shepherd's Bush Green,   Over the roundabout at the start of the West Cross Route and in to Holland Park Ave,   Left in to Royal Crescent - around and back down into Addison Road and disperse.
A march on foot on Monday 19th February 2007 down Walton Street in Chelsea SW3 assembling at 10 AM for a 10.15 start.
Some pictures taken by Pete Law photographer - Pic 1   Pic 2   Pic 3   Pic 4.
Details of both protests - pdf version   Details of both protests - Word version   Map of go slow route   Other details of the protests at Hammersmith Council web site

Links: Campaign Against Extension of the Zone (West London Residents Association) - site out of date   Kensington & Chelsea Council - Con Charge pages

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Report on Impact on London

Transport for London issued in January 2005 a report on the impact of the Congestion Scheme in London.
You may be able to read between the lines:-  TfL - London Impacts Monitoring - Summary review - January 2005

And to save you the trouble we have done it for you!

LONDON "CONGESTION" CHARGE - THE IMPACT - JAN O5 REPORT

The above analysis was done for the campaign against the Edinburgh "Congestion" Charge. Shortly afterwards there was a further official report:- TfL - London Impacts Monitoring - Third Annual Report April 2005
A Fourth Annual report should have been published in "Spring" 2006. But as at end of June it has not yet been published.

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Effect on London Businesses

There are businesses who support Tolls and Congestion Charges, perhaps they use taxis a lot!

Such businesses are however in the minority. In particular the businesses within the London Congestion Charge Zone who depend on "footfall" are almost all against the scheme.

London Chamber of Commerce and Industry Third Retail Report on the effect of the charge on the Retail Sector was published in January.
It makes gloomy reading. The Executive Summary on page 5 includes:- 1. 84% of respondents reported a fall in taking since the charge was introduced.

2. 63% of respondents reported a fall in customer numbers since the charge was introduced.

7. 37% of retailers have reduced their staffing levels since the introduction of congestion charging.

8. 33% are considering relocating to a site outside of the congestion charging zone, and
28% are considering closing their business as a direct result of congestion charging. The effect of the charge on the restaurant trade was also surveyed by the London Chamber. The following report (September 2004) was not quite as gloomy as the retail survey, but still grim.
2. Nearly 80% of respondents reported a fall in customer numbers since the charge was introduced.

6. 43% of respondents have reduced their staffing levels since the introduction of congestion charging.

7. 35% are considering relocating to a site outside of the congestion charging zone, and

8. 20% are considering closing their business as a direct result of congestion charging. Forum of Private Business believe that tolls and congestion charges harm businesses. They have launched this Petition   from businesses to Ken Livingstone. The petition asks him to drop his plans for increased charges and an extended charging zone. Businesses can also complete an online survey.

CBI have just issued the latest in a long line of reports from different organisations showing the negative impact on businesses:-   News Release 28 Feb 05


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Letter to the Mayor - May 2007

Londoners have got used to the big con and most foreigners seem to ignore it with impunity. But visitors from elsewhere in the UK often don't understand the system. Here is a recent letter to the Mayor from one visitor who entered the zone by mistake and exited without realising that they would still have to find out how to pay and then pay-
"Dear Mr Livingstone,
Earlier this year I asked you to intercede on my behalf to prevent your Enforcement Officer upholding the issue of a Penalty Charge Notice against me. I wrote to you again asking that you show some semblance of a democratic impulse, human decency and sense of justice.
Eventually I received a reply on your behalf telling me that TfL must act with fairness and consistency but warning me that appeals do not accept unwitting entrance into the Congestion Zone as a mitigating factor.
That your office sees no blatant contradiction between the two statements is a sad indictment of the level of rational thought that lies at the heart of this authoritarian and monstrously unjust scheme.
Your office claims that the signage for the zone enables motorists to anticipate it and change direction if they so choose. This is not so. The signage is designed to corral them into the zone's revenue-raising area.
It's sheer greed that will be the undoing of this scheme. You've underestimated the intelligence of the public you are supposed to serve and I intend to challenge the legality of this scheme .
I wonder what the visitors from UK and overseas arriving for the 2012 Olympic Games will think of all this?
Sincerely yours ....." Back to top

Links

There are various websites that cover the London charge, many of these are inactive or have been hijacked by advertisers. The most well known anti charge site is probably "Sod-u-ken", with its well used discussion forum; but we have removed the link as it is not clear what its purpose now is. We recommend these sites:-
Association of British Drivers (click on "London Con Charge" at top right)
London branch of the ABD - Congestion charging page
Campaign Against Extension of the Zone (West London Residents Association) - site out of date
CNUT or "Congestion Charge Nefarious Underhanded Tax" - site out of date
Kensington & Chelsea Council - Con Charge pages
London Liftshare (car share, operated by a commercial company, but free)
London Motoring Organisation (opposed to con charge)
London Motorists Action Group Limited (opposed to penalties from parking etc, as well as the con charge)
nocongestioncharging.com - site out of date
Safe Speed - "Why it's wrong and why it won't work Or: how to burn money and attack the poor"
Spy.org - (privacy implications)
Transport for London (Official Site)
Westminster City Council - Con Charge pages

Wikipedia - encyclopaedia entry

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