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Comment: C-charge change doesn't add up
Evening Standard Comment12 Feb 2008
Today's announcement of changes to the congestion charge regime includes a £25 charge for the most polluting carswhich has been well flagged and will please the majority who see no need for large SUVs in London. It will certainly be harsh for drivers who for legitimate reasons need to use people movers with engine sizes above the new limit. But there could be some improvement in congestion and in air quality as a result.
What is much harder to support is the Mayor's free pass into the zone for a potentially vast number of London-registered small cars, such as Ford Fiestas. Though these A and B band cars are relatively low CO2 emitters, they will contribute to congestion if they return to the zone. It is not clear why they should be singled out for such favourable treatment. Sales of band A and B cars are soaring, and manufacturers will be quick to sell to motorists priced out by the original charge but now able to drive back in. Where these are SUV drivers who have switched to lower-emitting models, this represents environmental improvement. But if these drivers were previously using public transport or avoiding the zone, new congestion will be created.
The Mayor is promising to reimpose a band B charge of £4 if too many small cars return - but why take the risk? The package suggests that the Mayor has lost his grip on the original aim of the charge, which was to limit congestion. Better air quality is desirable. However, if a rush of small cars arrives just as a few SUVs leave, the effect may be negligible, and congestion, much of it caused by buses and vans rather than cars and already on the rise again, will get worse still. This looks like a preelection swipe at rich drivers of Porsche Cayennes combined with an attractive deal for small car drivers thatmay well have to be withdrawn a year after the poll. Londoners should ask themselves why the Mayor is effectively curtailing the congestion charge he previously claimed to be one of his greatest achievements, and whether the capital's roads have really been transformed.
Reader views (1)
The C charge should continue alongside this new charge. London has become a much better place to visit. One is not so much in danger of being run over on a zebra crossing for starters. The decreased traffic numbers are very noticeable when I travel up (by train) several times a year.
- Iris, Crowborough, UK, 13/02/2008 01:06
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