Congestion Charges
Wed, 2002-02-27 09:47
#1
Congestion Charges
Probably a good idea. New York, a city that is situated on an island, can only be accessed by bridges. If you've ever sat in queues waiting to pay your bridge toll, and casually wondered how much money the city takes on an hourly basis, you can see the potential for the City of London.
£5 seems expensive in comparison to a New York bridge toll of about $2, but it probably won't deter many people who have business in the city.
However, can London Underground cope with the additional strain?
Fairly obviouisly, no it can't.
Binman Overladen
We need congestion charges for postings on this site.
Ralph Dartford
Corporate sponsorship of the underground is is the only way forward.
Ralph
1legspider
Radical. Brave. Finally a politician who is true to his convictions.
Can London cope? Well the pressure will be on to Make it work..
and free up more of this city for its citizens.
All for it.. but then I live within zone.. hee.. hee.
justyn_thyme
Sadly, I'm not so confident that the congestion charge will make a difference. It's a bit like cigarette taxes. No matter how high they go, people still smoke because of the addiction. Now, if it gets expensive enough, it will slow down NEW addicts (drivers), but that change is barely visible. Besides, unless the public transport is improved, drivers will just keep paying no matter what it costs because in their view there is no alternative. It's also a "class" thing. No one wants to give up their company car.
I'd like to see the congestion clear up, but I'd much rather see the public transport work properly.
I don't really see much hope for improvement any time soon. Changes like this take place very slowly.
Tony Cook
Don't forget that Ken has promised 200 additional buses a year for the next ten years and he can't do what he wants to do with the Tube because of the insanity of PPP - a crazed government dogma if ever I saw one.
He's had the guts to put his career on the line (again) in the face of seemingly overwhlemingly powerful opposition. Go for it, Ken, and use the cash to improve the buses, and put pressure on the stupid mechanism that won't work for years to improve the Tube.