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Last week a banker friend who lives in Notting Hill told me that although he used to take the Tube, since the western extension of the C-charge zone, he drives to work. "Parking by my office has dropped in price by a third since the C-charge was introduced, and the Tube has gone up; it's now about the same price to drive," he says. One Kensington mother told me that since the extension, she drives absolutely everywhere when she used to walk, "and why wouldn't I?" Quite.
Sorting out the iniquities and divisiveness of the C-charge is one of the most important challenges that face our new Mayor. Its original purpose, to control traffic flow in the centre, has become muddied by the western extension, to which there was no great logic. West London is Boris's heartland, so it's imperative that he gets it right.
What was the extension for? If it was to ease traffic flow, then it wasn't really necessary. Traffic around the boundary, where I live near Olympia, was never that bad anyway; areas where it was a problem, like the King's Road, are if anything worse. If environmental, then it hasn't worked; people within the extension have leapt back into their cars. If it was to raise money for public transport, as was so often proclaimed by west London-hating Ken, why do we have a Tube system that's more expensive per metre than any other train service in the world, including the Orient-Express?
Somehow Boris needs to take account of those who need to drive. I live just outside the boundary. I have three young children, and anyone who has tried to take a double buggy on a bus will know that it is a life-shortening experience for all involved. Boris also needs to examine the fact that bike lanes and bus routes do not mix; and allow a freer flow of traffic for the sake of local businesses, which have been crippled by the blunt line in the west.
The opening of the Westfield shopping centre at Shepherd's Bush is even more of a concern. It is located just outside the zone, meaning that its shoppers' traffic must use Shepherd's Bush Green to escape the C-charge. Result: massive gridlock and the inevitable decay of the shops on Holland Park Avenue.
What was a series of characterful villages connected to each other is becoming a series of checkpoints worthy of the Eastern Bloc. The western extension is just one of those bullying tactics that makes you feel you're being penalised for living, and makes London life a little more joyless and expensive. Over to you, Boris.
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Reader views (4)
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Of course, there's no shallow self-interest at all here, is there? With an oyster card, the tube is not half as expensive as you make out. Without the congestion charge, buses would be nowhere near as good as they are now compared to ten years ago. It is much quicker to travel through the western extension by bus now than it was previously. I have seen no signs of failing businesses.
And, when push comes to shove, there is no real excuse for anyone who lives in central London to drive unless it is a required aspect of their job. To claim otherwise is purely selfish.
Probably the residents discount should have been looked at more closely to avoid encouraging people who live locally to drive.
- An, London E8
I agree but all he'll do is extend it to include shepherds bush and that will mean I will not be able to afford to go to work as I live outside London in the middle of nowhere.
- Simon, hemel uk
Hear,hear! And stop people licensing their cars as Private Hire Vehicles to evade the C-charge...a PCO examiner said he has no choice but to issue a license if the vehicle has one days Hire and Reward Insurance...big con trick...stop it now!
- Mark White, northolt
