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Paddick will charge £10 for driving into London
Pippa Crerar, Political Correspondent14 Feb 2008
Tourists and out-of-town commuters would be charged £10 for driving into Greater London under plans unveiled by Liberal Democrat mayoral candidate Brian Paddick.
Hundreds of thousands of motorists would be penalised for bringing their cars into the capital in a bid to reduce congestion on the city's roads.
The former Met police chief hopes the levy would encourage visitors and commutersto switch to public transport instead. Commercial vehicles and residents who registered their car at a London address would qualify for a 100 per cent discount.
But the "out-of-town" tax is set to raise fears it would put off tourists from visiting a city already considered one of the most expensive in the world.
Launching his transport manifesto, Mr Paddick said: "A Greater London congestion charge will have a real impact on congestion and pollution. This is about getting people out of their cars and on to public transport.
"This will make a significant contribution to improving London's public transport system, in the suburbs as well as in the centre."
He claims the scheme, which would be brought in if he won the 1 May election, would cost little to set up as the technology is already in place to monitor the Low Emissions Zone around the perimeter of the capital.
Fixed and mobile cameras read the number plates of vehicles within the zone which are then checked against a database of registered vehicles.
He has vowed to scrap the LEZ, under which high-polluting lorries are charged up to £200 a day, claiming it puts small businesses at risk.
Lib-Dem aides expect the £10-a-day charge to raise thousands of pounds every day which would be reinvested in the public transport network, though the plans have not yet been costed.
Mr Paddick also proposed to keep a flat rate of £8 for every car travelling into the central congestion charging zone and scrap the Western extension.
Under his plans, there would be no more fines for late payment and the charge would be collected by sending out a bill once it reached £40, keeping down administration costs. He would re-phase traffic lights and manage roadworks to keep traffic moving.
Ken Livingstone said this week he would bring in a £25 C-charge for gasguzzling "Chelsea tractors" while making the smallest cars exempt.
Mr Paddick pledged to bring in a "women friendly" carriage on every Tube running from 9pm to closing time seven days a week. A similar scheme would operate on the top 10 most dangerous bus routes, which would carry transport police on late-night journeys.
The Tube would be run in a similar way to the Docklands Light Railway where one firm runs tracks, trains, staffing and signalling for a fixed fee and Transport for London take the fares.
On the buses, pre-pay Oyster card holders would be eligible for unlimited journeys within an hour so they could change buses without an additional charge.
Bus routes would be shortened to stop them picking up so many delays and a GPS tracking system would beam their arrival time ahead to bus-stops.
The Lib-Dem candidate would spend an extra £50 million on cycle lanes for all red routes, join the other main candidates in bringing in a Paris-style bike hire scheme and have both cycling and black cab trade representatives on the board of Transport for London.
Reader views (21)
We are very worried about Brian Paddicks proposed 24/7 Boundary Charge.
My parents live in Sidcup (Kent? but just inside LEzone) and I live only about 5 miles away in Swanley, Kent (which we thought was sensible and close), but it is outside the LEzone boundary.
My parents are in their mid-80s and rely on me and my car for general help with the house/garden, going out and getting back from the shops.
Although we never go near to Central London, this proposal would cost an absolute fortune, the proposal is not fair and badly thought out.
Surely there should be NO boundary charge unless the vehicle also goes into the central London area as well.
Brian Paddick, Please re-think this proposal which would be disasterous for many of us living within a number of miles of the boundary. The present proposal is likely to split up families, damage friendships and punish people who go no-where near to the centre of London and do not have the high salaries to pay for it.
- Peter Bucknall, Swanley, 23/04/2008 23:13
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I retired and due to the changing circumstances of living in Dagenham, (born and bred) I managed to move out to Essex. I have family in Dagenham and each Friday since 2000 I go into Dagenham to visit them as well as visiting my parents who are interred in a cemetery there. I also have a daughter and grandchildren in Romford and baby sit on a weekly basis for them whilst my daughter has to work. Under Paddick's new rules it will cost me £10 each time I visit family or babysit for my daughter. Both destinations are far beyond my capability of travelling by public transport. Thanks Paddick, it must be nice to be a high earner as yourself. Why do you assume that everyone is capable of riding a bike or using public transport?
- Tom, Wickford, Essex, 15/02/2008 12:32
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I doubt that adding taxes is going to cut it with the Londoners nowadays.
- Georgie, London,, 15/02/2008 09:26
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Excuse me Mr Paddick I used to live in London and 2 of my three children still do. I refuse to pay you and your cronies at the London assembly £10 on top of the exorbitant fuel prices to go back to MY home town and visit my children. Think on and think again. The best thing you could do is just go against everything that Livingstone believes in that will win you thousands of votes. What an odious man he still is.
- Minime, South East England, 15/02/2008 08:54
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It can cost up to £5k to ensure that a 12 Tonne truck complies with the ramblings of LEZ.
People use their cars because the transport system is too crowded, dirty, and expensive, Ken, instead of improving the system in real terms to cope with demand, will always see the car and his deliberate traffic pinch points as a "Cash milk Cow"!.
God forbid, but, should Ken get back in, he will extend the zone South and East, the moneys just sitting there and he knows it, small car owners and residents beware!
- George, Hempstead, 15/02/2008 08:44
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Thats a great idea, One more reason for me never to go to London again! There are many other great cities around the world who have opened the door for me to spend my money with them. London has lost it and clearly don't need my money any more.
- Mark A. Lack, Canada, 15/02/2008 01:43
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It is probably a good idea to increase charges for people travelling to London by car. I'm also glad to see he is interested in improving cycle lanes in London too. At the moment cycling in central London is only for the very brave or the suicidal it seems to me. More dedicated and separate cycle lanes are needed, there are already many commuters who cycle to work, if it were safer and easier to do so many more would probably switch to cycling. It would be a cheap and simple solution to reduce both congestion and pressure on public transport to create more dedicated cycle lanes in the capital.
- James Hallam, Buckingham England, 15/02/2008 01:19
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And has he stopped to think about the impact on residents on the edge of the outer London boroughs. I and my parents live in Enfield, my sister moved just over the London boundary into Hertfordshire. Therefore each time she has to bring the grandchildren into Enfield to see their grandparents, auntie and uncle then they would be expected to pay £10? yet another half-thought out policy by someone who clearly does not understand the different demographics of society.
- Enfield Resident, Enfield, 14/02/2008 22:35
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I love Paddy for saying this - after all the outer (or greater) London driver has had to pay for the super rich to have a smog free London - our roads are jammed and overused and we pay for potholes and traffic calming through our council taxes.
Livingstone didn't cut emissions - he just made poorer Londoners either pay more to use their roads, or sit on crowded dirty and unreliable tubes...until the rich folk had enjoyed the working day and they had free permission to enter. Tax people with two or more cars...tax them.
I used to take 2 hours to get to Victoria on a north London train and Tube journey. My colleague took 2 hours on a very nice fast train from Milton Keynes. I had to sit in nasty dirty seats, she had comfort and relaxation because she could book hers!
The best thing would be not to try to stop people but to stop the endless enlargement of London's population.
Those that use a car and are poor will not use the Tube because they have already paid for a car tax. Get every household that has two cars or more to pay, especially those who can afford to live in centre of London.
Oh and I think Paddy really would be a great Mayor. He is a realist.
- Lb, Haringey, 14/02/2008 21:44
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All these promises from Paddick and Johnson make me laugh.
I'll get rid of Bendy buses yet I have no idea of the cost of doing so or the impact on passengers or what I will replace them with.
I'll cancel the Western Extension yet I have no idea of the termination costs of all the contracts, lost income that will result or impact on traffic and congestion.
I'll scrap LEZ but I don't know how much terminating all the contracts will be or what legal challenges I might face what with the previous Mayor forcing HGV operators to pay millions to comply with the scheme.
I can't say I have any love for Ken but all these grand claims and ideas that they come up with are just pipe dreams and the reality will be very different when they see the impact on costs and income.
I'll use the LEZ cameras to introduce a Greater London wide charge yet I clearly do not understand that there are not enough cameras to do so!
- Steve Mason, Southend, England, 14/02/2008 20:25
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Does this guy seriously think he has a chance of becoming Mayor of London? Nice welcome this would be: as soon as you drive in the city - £10 taxation. No, and he was not much of a policeman either I understand.
- Jacqueline, Hampstead, London, 14/02/2008 19:01
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Paddick's suggestion seems excellent.It is simple, clear, transparent, and does away with the people hired by Ken to fine, and penalise motorists who make a small error. Paddick also is honest about future charges, and gets rid of the mistake that is the Western extension. He gets my vote for mayor based on this. As for Ken - now that his congestion charge has failed to reduce congestion in spite of it doubling (remember when it was £5?), he is trying to distract the voters from his failure by changing the Congestion charge into something else - a charge on big cars. If everyone switches cars into the "free" band B cars, there will be no money raised. Do we seriously think that Ken wants us all to switch into band "B" cars? If we did, or if we all switched to bicycles...how long before a "bicycle charge" from Ken?
- C.Elder, London,UK, 14/02/2008 16:43
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I am totally fed up of politicians wanted to get more money from people trying to get to work and do their job. If everyone who works in London decided to go on strike because enough is enough, or everyone who drives a car stopped using it for a while the government would totally panic by having their big tax revenues reduced. The only way to reduce congestion is to promote 'working from home' policies. I know that this is not possible for all jobs but there are many roles which can be done without the need to commute.
- Susan, Buckinghamshire, 14/02/2008 15:48
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Does this mean it would cost a motorist £18- to drive into central London?
- Bethany Stephens, London, 14/02/2008 14:15
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Yet another prime example of Mr Paddick being totally out of touch with reality. At times it appears he lives in a world surrounded by reality. The public transport infrastructure is not able to cope now with the numbers of commuters trying to access the capital. Mr Paddick should try the journey on a day by day basis from the suburbs, with no seats available and cramped in the carriages like cattle.
If an appropriate study was conducted into these circumstances, the effects on health and lost hours at work must be enormous.
Concentrate on issues that matter Mr Paddick, Livingstone's congestion charging is a failure do not alienate Londoners further
- Roly, London, 14/02/2008 14:11
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This £10 charge for drivers from outside of London should replace the congestion zone charge. You only have to stand by the M1, M3, M4 or M40 in the mornings and evenings to see how much traffic comes pouring into London from outside of the M25. All of least routes are basically gridlocked each day. It's the drivers from out of London that cause most of the congestion within London.
- Tim, london, 14/02/2008 13:53
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"The former Met police chief hopes the levy would encourage visitors and commuters to switch to public transport instead."
Brian, I don't think you've got the hang of this. People use cars because public transport is awful. Sort that out first THEN you start charging more for those that absolutely refuse to use public transport.
But of course, on the radio the other day you made it clear you had no idea what the Blackwall Tunnel Tidal Flow, or the issues surrounding it, was so it is probably best that you keep quiet on transport matters.
- Md, London, 14/02/2008 13:24
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So another stealth tax. Perhaps this too will change like the existing one? I thought it was a "congestion charge" but now Ken has changed the rules to make it a "Green Tax". So the congestion in future will remain, it will simply be made up of low carbon cars!
Just build a wall around the capital and sell entry tickets to all. At least that would be honest.
- Chris, London, 14/02/2008 13:00
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Brian, Ken and Boris. Stop singing from the same song sheet: "It's all about getting people out of their cars and on to public transport"
Public transport is full, overcrowded and expensive. Increase the capacity, reduce the cost and make it more reliable.
Then impose restrictions on private cars.
- Marc, Harrow, Uk, 14/02/2008 12:39
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Well, at least Brian Paddick has some good ideas, but seems to be all over the place. Unlike Boris, he does want to do something about pollution. Unlike Boris, he does support taxing high polluters.
However, the LEZ is a key part of reducing pollution - the £200 is for non-registered vehicles. Given a heavy lorry costs £70,000 to put on the road, the extra to get it up to LEZ standards is not a lot - it will only affect small businesses who are irresponsible.
- Harold, london,UK, 14/02/2008 12:39
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'"women friendly" carriages'
I'm old enough to remember 'ladies' compartments on BR trains when I started commuting in the seventies.
- Jh, Romford, UK, 14/02/2008 12:23
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