[ Post New Message | Post Reply to this One | Send Private Email to Cathy | Help ]

Congestion Charging

from Cathy (cathyvpreece@aol.com)

Half-term launch pays off for travellers

By Roger Blitz and Juliette Jowit
Published: February 18 2003 4:00 | Last Updated: February 18 2003 4:00

Financial Times

Ken Livingstone's decision to launch the congestion charge during school half-term holidays looked to have paid off as the first day of the scheme passed off more smoothly than expected.

Relieved traffic managers reported 25 per cent fewer vehicles entering central London than on a normal working day. During school holidays, traffic tends to fall by between 10-15 per cent. Also road works had been stopped until drivers have got used to the scheme.

The mayor accepted it was too early to tell the longer term impact of the ?5 charge. The combination of school holidays and Mr Livingstone's warning that yesterday would be "a bloody day" may have contributed to the stay-away.

There were few problems either inside the eight square mile zone or around the edges, where congested rat-runs had been expected.

Several usually jammed routes inside the zone - including Victoria Street, Parliament Square, Tower Hill, the City of London, Covent Garden and Aldwych - had smooth traffic flows throughout the day.

Jonathan Simpson, a press officer for the RAC Foundation motoring organisation, said it had started "remarkably smoothly", possibly because many motorists had been scared off by warnings of traffic mayhem.

Michelle Dix, congestion charge manager for the mayor's Transport for London agency, denied traffic lights on ring roads had been rephased to smooth flows.

Steve Norris, the Tory candidate for next year's London mayoral elections, said it was "entirely predictable" that the streets would be relatively quiet. But he added: "I don't believe in the long term it's a good scheme at all. You'll get a lot more traffic next Monday and the Monday after that."

TfL was bullish about registration for payment. By early evening, 75,000 had paid for the charge for periods including yesterday. Despite some snags at the call centre in Glasgow and some slow progress on the congestion charge website, TfL said there were "no significant problems".

The Freight Transport Association said traffic had been moving well but re-vealed a software problem could have corrupted up to 800 company fleet registrations. TfL has been forced to agree emergency measures for fleet operators.

Opposition to the charge remained undiminished, particularly from low-paid workers dependent on their vehicles. But there was little evidence of refusal to pay. About 150 Smithfield meat market traders marched on City Hall in a mood of resignation rather than defiance.

"Four or five weeks ago, people were saying don't pay it. But you can only do it if every worker did it," said Ken Bussey, who drives in from Essex. "None of us can afford to lose our car. We're really protesting but paying - we can't take the risk."

Actress Samantha Bond, who has led the "Miss Moneypenny campaign" against the charge, said she wanted to confront Mr Livingstone about the plight of low-paid workers. "This charge is taking 11 per cent of their post-tax income. If any government was to suggest it, you would expect Mr Livingstone to lead the charge against it," she said.

At Kennington Cross in south London, where the cordon surrounding the zone cuts through a community, a small protest, perhaps diminished by the biting cold, appeared to be populated by locals and "flying" Conservatives, claiming they would abolish the new charge.

Susan Giles, a Kennington resident who lives inside the zone, expressed anger at "yet another tax" and said it would now cost her son and daughter £14 if they came to stay: ?5 each day for the charge as well as £2 a day for a visitor's parking permit.

Ed Blakemoor, a taxi driver, said it would take a week for the scheme to bed down. "We'll get more business if people can see taxis can actually move about. People don't want to sit [in a jam] watching the meter tick up," he said.

Shares in Capita, the contractor operating the scheme, were among the best performing in the FTSE 100 yesterday , rising 11p, almost 6 per cent, to 209p.

Additional reporting by Ben Hunt, Lydia Adetunji and Andrea Felsted ..

(posted 7710 days ago)

[ Previous | Next ]