(posted 7768 days ago)Times
January 16, 2003Darling has doubts over congestion boundary
By Ben Webster, Transport CorrespondentALISTAIR DARLING, the Transport Secretary, made his first public criticism of the London congestion charge yesterday by suggesting that the boundary had been drawn in the wrong place.
Mr Darling also raised doubts about whether the technology used to enforce the charge and collect payments would work.
The Transport Secretary had refused to comment on the details of the scheme, saying that they were a matter for Ken Livingstone, the Mayor of London. But he broke his silence after increasing evidence that the boundary of the zone will cut communities in half and create rat runs through residential areas.
The London Assembly has highlighted the plight of residents of Kennington Lane, which forms part of the southern boundary. People living on the inner side of the roads get a 90 per cent discount and their neighbours opposite must pay the full £5 a day.
Mr Darling said: “Getting the detail right is absolutely critical. The issues include whether or not Mr Livingstone has got the cordon in the right place and whether or not the technology works. I hope he is working day and night.”
Nicky Gavron, the Labour candidate who will challenge Mr Livingstone in next year’s mayoral election, said she would consider expanding the zone to include the whole of Westminster. She said the technology could also be improved to allow concessions for public sector workers and those doing night shifts.
Mr Livingstone has said that he will consider expanding the zone both to the east and the west, with the possibility of a congestion charge for people driving to Heathrow Airport.
John Biggs, chairman of the London Assembly’s transport committee, said the River Thames might have been a better southern boundary for the zone. “It also might have made sense to pilot the scheme in a smaller area, such as the City of London,” he said. Mr Biggs urged Mr Livingstone to extend the 90 per cent discount to “natural communities” which straddle the boundary. People living just outside the zone who were part of a community that continued inside the zone should not have to pay the full rate, he said.
More than half the profits from the charge, which starts on February 17, will be spent on improving buses. The 150,000 motorists expected to pay each day will benefit from less than a third of the £130 million annual surplus.
A total of £84 million will be spent on bus improvements, including 200 new buses and improved frequency on dozens of routes. Another £4 million will be spent on CCTV cameras on board buses to monitor violent passengers and catch drivers parking in bus lanes.
Projects aimed at improving the safety of children who walk or cycle to school will receive £6 million.
Drivers will benefit from £36 million planned for road safety. But much of that will go on improving the safety of pedestrians, with measures to reduce the speed of traffic.