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

Congestion Charging

from Cathy (cathyvpreece@aol.com)

28/03/03 - Congestion charge section

First the good news...

By David Williams, Motoring Editor

Evening Standard

If you are battling your way into work by car, but find that in central London all is plain sailing, here is why. RAC figures show that the number of vehicles using many roads in the centre has been slashed since congestion charging began.

On the road bordering the charging zone, levels have fallen by up to a quarter, according to the snapshot survey one month into the scheme.

Inside the charging zone rush-hour traffic fell by 15 per cent, while offpeak traffic fell by up to 25 per cent. Along the boundary road circling the scheme, the RAC recorded a 25 per cent drop in traffic at Elephant and Castle and 15 per cent less on Euston Road. There was a 15 per cent drop in Park Lane, Vauxhall Bridge Road and on Tower Bridge.

But traffic in areas bordering the zone, such as Kennington, were hit with up to two per cent more traffic as a result of congestion charging, the RAC said.

These latest findings back a separate survey by the Evening Standard and the RAC Foundation which found that journeys around the boundary road are actually quicker than before the charge began.

It had been feared that the "inner ring road" could become gridlocked as thousands of motorists diverted to avoid the £ 5 fee. But key sections of the 14-mile road were quicker when I drove it with the foundation's Kevin Delaney. Our trip took four minutes longer - but only because a breakdown partially blocked Edgware Road and a motorist held us up at Lisson Grove.

In the week before the scheme was launched the trip took one hour and nine minutes. In our latest circuit the same journey took one hour and 13 minutes. The inner ring road includes major highways such as Marylebone Road, Commercial Street, New Kent Road, Kennington Lane and Hyde Park Corner. Even Transport for London forecast that sections would be busier.

In fact, our journey between the Planetarium and Angel, Islington, took 13 minutes compared with 16 minutes before congestion charging. From Tower Bridge to Elephant and Castle took eight minutes compared with 11; Elephant and Castle to Victoria took 10 minutes compared with 12.

Our journey was slower only between Marble Arch and Lisson Grove - after the two incidents - taking 15 minutes compared with six in the week before charging began.

Transport for London says that while it believed traffic levels on the road had risen, the new £ 1.2 million London Traffic Control Centre at Victoria was managing flow along the road much more effectively.

However, the Foundation warns it is still far too soon to draw conclusions about the success of congestion charging. It said traffic levels fell by 16 per cent last year with motorists deterred by "atrocious" gridlock and that, combined with a downturn in the economy, London was experiencing a general reduction in traffic.

And while London was blighted by roadworks and traffic light changes, which made some journeys almost impossible last year, major works were suspended now and traffic lights returned to normal settings to let congestion charging bed in. TfL says potential bottlenecks along the boundary road are being smoothed out by its Real Time Traffic Management - a computer-controlled system that matches traffic lights to traffic volumes.

With police and TfL officials working more closely together in the new LTCC, more efficient co-operation is possible when incidents such as crashes or breakdowns threaten disruption.

Find this story at http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/traffic/congestioncharge/articles/4068469?version=1
©2003 Associated New Media

(posted 7671 days ago)

[ Previous | Next ]