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Background
The London
congestion charging scheme was opened in February 2003 and is the largest
scheme of its kind in the world. It covers an area of 22Km2 and in
its first year of operation it has resulted in a reduction in traffic of
approximately 20%.
Approximately 100 000 vehicles pay to enter the congestion
charging area per day, resulting in an income of £130m per year. This income is
all used to improve public transport in the city.
Public
reaction to the introduction of this scheme has been surprisingly positive.
How London’s congestion
charging scheme works
The
perimeter of the congestion charging area is marked with traffic signs that
tell drivers that they need to pay before entering the area. The area is only
operated from Monday to Friday from 07.00 hours to 18.30 hours.
Drivers
wishing to take a vehicle into the congestion charging area must pay a daily
fee. This fee can be paid at shops, petrol filling stations, car parks, by
post, by telephone, by SMS text message or over the internet. Drivers can pay
for just one day, or for any number of days, weeks or months. When payment is
made a computer system records the vehicle registration number, and the dates
for which payment has been received. Payment can be made at any time up to midnight on the day that the vehicle enters the area.
The charge
is £5 per day. People who live inside the area pay only £0.5 per day, and do
not have to pay anything for days during which they do not move their car.
Enforcement is needed to make sure that drivers have paid
to enter the area. Cameras are used for this. These cameras read the
registration numbers of vehicles entering the area and check against computer
records that the vehicle has paid the daily fee. If the fee has not been paid
then a penalty fine of £80 is automatically sent to the registered owner of the
vehicle via the national agency that registers vehicle ownership (the DVLA).
This fine is reduced to £40 if it is paid within 2 weeks, but increased to £120
if it is not paid within 4 weeks.
In addition to cameras enforcement teams operate inside
the area. These teams identify and wheel-clamp vehicles with more than three
unpaid fines. If necessary, vehicles are towed away until fines have been paid.
Effects upon Pollution
The congestion charging scheme in London is
predicted to have little impact upon air quality. The Greater London Authority
estimates that there will be a reduction in pollutant levels of approximately
1-2%. This small level of reduction is due to the following factors;
- The
charging scheme mainly reduces the number of cars, which produce less
pollution than heavier vehicles.
- The
scheme only operates for one third of the hours per year.
- The
relationship between NOx and NO2 means that reducing NOx does
not lead to an equal reduction in NO2.
- PM10
levels are greatly affected by migration of PM10 from outside
the area.
It has been difficult to evaluate the changes in pollutant
levels from the first year of operation of the scheme. This is because the
variability in climate between different years results in bigger changes in
pollutant levels that those predicted from the congestion charging scheme.
It is unlikely to be possible to quantify the effect of
the congestion charging scheme upon pollutant levels in future years. This is
because the effects of the scheme are likely to be small in comparison with
other factors occurring at the same time, for example improvements in vehicle
engines.
However, the congestion charging scheme is used as a
mechanism to improve air quality in other ways. For example, the very cleanest
alternatively fuelled vehicles are exempt from the scheme. The congestion
charging scheme forms only part of the Mayor’s Air Quality Strategy (for London).
Future Developments in London’s Congestion Charging
The Greater London Authority is currently carrying out a
feasibility study into building upon the congestion charging scheme with the
introduction of a Low Emission Zone. This zone could be used to require
vehicles to meet Euro II, III, and IV standards by 2005, 2007 and 2010. It
could also be used to require vehicles to have particulate traps fitted.
The scheme could be targeted only at buses, heavy
goods vehicles and taxis, or could include cars. However, initial findings have
been that even this scheme would not allow the NO2 and PM10 standards to be
met.
In addition there are
proposals to increase the area covered by the scheme.
www.london-lez.org
www.london.gov.uk
www.london.gov.uk/mayor/strategies/air_quality/index.jsp
www.tfl.gov.uk/tfl/pdfdocs/congestion_charging/monitoring/first-annual-report-environment.pdf |