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Congestion Charging

from Cathy (cathyvpreece@aol.com)

South London Press

Jury is still out on congestion charge effect

Mar 1 2004

One year on and the congestion charge seems to be working - but at what cost? While we're told town traffic levels are down, it is the independent traders who are hit hardest.

OSCAR MORTALI looks at the charge one year on and asks: 'Is it really a success?'

THEY said it was a disaster waiting to happen. Just over a year ago, London ushered in a new era in the form of the congestion charge. All the talk in the days, weeks and months leading up to the big day was of impending doom.

Traffic would pile up on perimeter roads, cameras would fail and an already creaking public transport system would not cope, they said.

And above all, people just wouldn't pay.

At 7am on February 17, 2003, journalists and film crews gathered on the freshly drawn-up boundary lines, where outer London meets inner London, ready to chronicle the widely predicted chaos.

It never happened. Now the congestion charge is being heralded as a roaring success.

The number of cars entering the zone has dropped by 50,000 a day - a fall of 38 per cent - as drivers abandon them in favour of public transport. The London bus in particular has seen an unprecedented rise in passenger numbers.

A quick glance at the figures back this up.

Initially the scheme was expected to raise £180 million to rein-vest in public transport in its first year, Transport for London then lowered this estimate to £130 million.

Today, it is suggested the first 12 months will reap around £70 million in hard cash.

Journey times are down, the predicted chaos has failed to materialise and, despite a few early glitches, Capita, the private firm charged with running the congestion charge, recently met its second performance milestone.

Inside Zone 1, everything is coming up roses.

De Polla didn't vote in the last mayoral election.

But he sure is going to in the next one. Rolf is co-owner of Wot On Earth - an independent organic food firm based on an industrial estate just outside the congestion zone in Vauxhall.

Ask Rolf whether he thinks the charge has been a success and he'll give you a very straight answer. "It's killing us," he says.

Walk up the stairs to his office and directly to the right, there is a sign plastered which reads: "CONGESTION CHARGE --HAS IT BEEN PAID?"

Wot On Earth has forked out nearly £5,000 in levies and fines over the first 12 months.

A small but well-established operation, the company has two vans which between them, make around 20 drops a day in and around London.

They do not qualify for a fleet discount because their fleet is not big enough.

And they can't deliver at night because the work involves dropping off perishable goods which can't be left outside premises.

They employ one driver who, at times, inadvertently enters the zone. But, like many London drivers, he is not always sure.

The bosses only know when a £40 demand lands on their doorstep.

"It's been a complete and utter disaster for us," says co-owner Jeremy Jaffe. "It is designed to catch people out. There are no barriers to stop people entering, there is no safety net.

"If you take a wrong turn, you pay." Rolf says: "I thought the mayor was meant to be on our side. All he's done is made it harder and harder for us to survive."

Wot On Earth has been hit hard. Bosses have taken out a hefty business loan to keep the company afloat.

Last month, Ken Livingstone launched a new congestion charge consultation, inviting Londoners to come forward with their comments.

Rolf and Jeremy are realistic enough to know the chances of it being scrapped are slim, but they have a few suggestions.

"For every other part of our business we are invoiced on a monthly basis," said Rolf. "Why can't they set up a similar account for the congestion charge?

"If these cameras can tell you how many times you've entered every day, surely they can just send us a bill at the end of the month telling us how many fivers we owe them."

Jeremy added: "If they're really serious about lowering pollution, why don't they use the money to give small businesses like us a grant to convert our vehicles to LPG fuel? "It's common sense isn't it?"

In Kennington, traders have also been badly hit. Some have already shut up shop and chosen not to renew leases after seeing profits plummet by up to 30 per cent.

For them the problem is not so much paying the charge, as many traders qualify for the 90 per cent discount, but the knock-on effect of the fall in customers driving into the zone.

Mark Rogers, of the Kennington Association, said: "The businesses just inside the zone are missing out on passing trade. "Very often that is the difference between making the rent and not making the rent.

"This is not the West End, this is a largely residential area and apart from more heavy traffic on boundary roads, they are losing their amenities as shops shut down.

"It's a quality-of-life issue." Twelve months on, the congestion may be hailed a success up at City Hall, but closer to home the jury is still out."

(posted 7324 days ago)

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