With Manchester and other cities thinking about introducing a congestion charge, it is worth asking whether there is any evidence to show that it works.
A clue is given by a report on the effect of the London Congestion Charge, introduced in 2003 (see page 21).
According to the latest report published by Transport for London, the number of vehicles entering the central London congestion zone reduced by 16% between 2002 and 2004.
That sounds good but most of the reduction came in the first year. In 2003, traffic fell by 14% compared to 2002. But the next year there was no change, in 2005 there was a 2% fall and last year there was no change.
Still a 16% reduction in traffic is impressive, even if it came at considerable cost. And even a 0% fall is quite good considering that traffic generally is increasing. So maybe it does work.
Incidentally the number of lorries and vans entering the central London zone have both fallen by 13% comparing 2006 with 2002.
Another interesting point is that vans made up 15% of vehicles going into the central London charging zone, but trucks only accounted for 4%.
Comments (1)
It is no surprise that a high tax on driving like £5, now £8, per day led to fewer people driving.
There is nothing good about that, however.
The question is whether the London Toll Tax has reduced congestion, and heer the answer is not really if at all.
Then we need to look at the costs and benefits.
Many have lost in so many ways, and most of the income has gone in running the scheme.
Overall, it is surely a dismal failure
Posted by Paul Morant | November 21, 2007 10:09 AM
Posted on November 21, 2007 10:09