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The London Congestion Charge is a fee that is levied on all motorists entering the Central London area. Although London is not the first city to adopt congestion charging, it is the largest city to do so as of 2003. The organization responsible for administering the charge is Transport for London (TfL). 2. The fee was introduced on February 17, 2003. The daily fee of 5 (approximately 7.50 or US$8) must be paid by the registered owner of a vehicle entering, leaving or moving around within the Congestion Charge zone between 7 a.m. and 6:30 p.m., Monday to Friday. The aim of the scheme is to encourage travellers to use public transport, cleaner vehicles, cycles, motorcycles or their own two feet instead of motor cars and vans, thus reducing congestion and allowing for faster, less polluting and more predictable journeys. TfL says that much of the money raised in the scheme will be invested in public transport. Another city with a congestion charge is Singapore.
Enforcement
4. Two hundred and thirty CCTV-style cameras, of which 180 are installed at the edge of the zone, record a stream of video of roads in the zone. There are also a number of mobile camera units which may be deployed anywhere in the zone. It is estimated that around 98% of vehicles moving within the zone will be caught on camera. The video streams are then transmitted to a data centre located in Central London where a computer system equipped with Automatic Number Plate Recognition (OCR) software deduces the registration plate of the vehicle. A second data centre provides a backup location for image data. 5. Although this process is not infallible, the process only needs to have a reasonable probability of success to have a deterrent effect. It appears that both front and back number plates are being captured, on cars going both in and out. This gives up to four chances to capture the number plates of a typical car entering and exiting the zone. 6. There are fifty additional camera installations within the zone intended to increase the probability of catching vehicles that have entered the zone without being caught on
entry or exit. This list is then compared with a list of cars whose owners/operators have paid to enter the zone. Those that have paid but not been seen in the central zone are not refunded but those have not paid and are seen are fined. The registered owner of such a vehicle is looked up in a database provided by the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA), based in Swansea. The fine is 80 (~119 or US$127). From 10.00 pm the charge is doubled to 10 (~15, US$16): this is intended to cut the number of lastminute payments. 7. Some vehicles such as buses, minibuses (over a certain size), taxis, emergency service vehicles, motorcycles, alternative fuel vehicles and bicycles are exempt from the charge. Residents of the zone are eligible for a 90% discount, if they pay the charge for a number of days at once.
associated with global warming and air pollution from cars. 12. But it says that an extended road network, improved public transport and better long-term planning will need to be supplemented by new motoring taxes to restrain demand. Improving public transport would have some effect on car use in urban areas, but would offer little restraint on overall traffic growth. The good news is that technology will clean up the car, said RAC Foundation chair Sir Christopher Foster. The bad news is that congestion will get worse without radical action. Many may be surprised that a motoring group has opted for charging but our report shows that the alternatives are worse. The report concludes that the government must ensure that charging is part of a fair deal and must not rip off motorists, which could lead to them voting with their wheels.
common attitude among London travellers. Future Plans 16. In the aftermath of the introduction of the Charge, there have been a number of suggestions for the future of the Charge. In November 2005, speaking at a conference of business leaders, the secretary of state for transport, Alistair Darling said more "radical measures" were needed to tackle congestion and he added that he supported the development of a national road pricing scheme. Mr Darling told delegates. "Congestion is bad for business, frustrates motorists and hurts local economies." "I'm convinced that without more radical measures, including more effective demand management, and actively managing traffic flows, road congestion will get worse," he said, adding that this was why he had been very clear about the need to look at road pricing. Local authorities in seven areas are to share 7m to explore new ways to tackle road congestion, which could include the introduction of a congestion charge similar to that in operation in London. The authorities, which include those in Greater Manchester, Bristol and the West Midlands, will assess the feasibility of combining better public transport with new systems to charge drivers for road use. The Confederation of British Industry (CBI) called on the government to commit an extra 1bn over the next two years on road and rail projects, after its research showed that delays and other problems were hitting productivity and causing stress among workers. And it said total spending by private firms and the government should be lifted by 60bn over the next 10 years to 300bn. A survey of more 1,000 firms and individual workers for the CBI showed "widespread dissatisfaction" with the nation's infrastructure. Half of those polled believed the UK's reputation as a place to do business was being significantly harmed by transport problems. Two-thirds of firms expected the transport system to get worse in the next five years, and half said transport problems were having a substantial impact on their profits. Two out of five said staff were often late for work and arrived stressed because of delays. And the overall cost to business of transport-created problems was put at 5% of turnover. "Although transport spending has risen in recent years, there are decades of underinvestment to deal with and it is clear that business still finds it far too difficult to get its goods to market and its people to work," said Sir Digby Jones, the CBI's director general. "The government must ensure more is done now to improve the transport network if its business-friendly credentials are to have any credibility.
He said spending on transport was set to increase from 10.4bn this year to 12.8bn in 2007, when transport spending after inflation will be over 60% higher than in 1997.