Congestion Charge goes to £25 in October

That's cool.

le car Don't get me wrong - I drive in London maybe once every 2 months, actually usually on my way to Dover!
I'm just saying the CC isn't enough, as long as public transport is so crap here.

I say bring these:

Ken has just proposed to do exactly that. See the "Cycle Highways" thread. The main attention has been on the actual highways, but there is also the proposal to copy Paris' Velib system.

[cite]TheBrick(Tommy)[/cite] When I was living in South Eailing there was a "express bus" that went from Acton to S.B, it was really good it stopped a lot less.

The X68 is another one of these, it goes express from Euston to West Norwood, but only at rush hour. Seems like a good isea to me.

tommy i'm sure you have never picked up a hitch hiker as scary as me.

engalnd is awesome for hitching, ireland is even better. cant catch out though :(

chris crash tommy i'm sure you have never picked up a hitch hiker as scary as me.

engalnd is awesome for hitching, ireland is even better. cant catch out though :(

No I think you would top my list if I did not know you. My friend From Czech Republic always says how people in europe just pick up becasue it is what they do but people in the uk always pick you up becasue they are scared for your safty that a phyco may pick you up.

What does "cant catch out though" mean?

catch out- hop a freight train

Have your say about the Western Extension, before Oct 5th..
https://www.tfl.gov.uk/tfl/roadusers/congestioncharging/westernextension/have-your-say.aspx

Email from LCC..
*The congestion charge works for cycling, but it risks being scrapped. It is essential that you make your views known to the TfL consultation.*
We have until 5th October to tell the Mayor not to scrap the western extension of the congestion charge. Boris Johnson has asked for your views, so don't lose this chance to support the congestion charge.
The original central London congestion charge led to an immediate reduction in motor vehicle traffic and a 30% increase in cycling. Pollution levels went down and the health of Londoners went up. The congestion charge raises vital income to support sustainable transport and a more liveable London.
The western extension of the congestion charge encouraged cycling and initially resulted in a 20% decrease in congestion. Major roadworks in the area have reduced the congestion impact, but without the charge congestion would be far far worse.
The Mayor and his advisors are known to be critical of the congestion charge. Boris Johnson is asking for views on whether the western extension should remain as it is; should be removed; or whether it should be altered. None of the alterations suggested in the consultation will reduce congestion and may even increase it.
London is renowned globally for the political courage in introducing congestion charging. Don't let things slip back and see worse conditions for cycling and growth in motor traffic, congestion and pollution.
London Cycling Campaign is calling on the Mayor to retain the western congestion zone and strengthen its impact on reducing congestion.

Thanks for the reminder Hippy

there's somethign fishy about pushin out west, where there is a predominance of large private vehicle owners that will get out of having to pay the charge as they live in the vicinity.

there's somethign fishy about pushin out west, where there is a predominance of large private vehicle owners that will get out of having to pay the charge as they live in the vicinity.

+1 It primarily helps some of the richest people in the country.

They also drive all the way from Kensington and Chelsea to the City and park up in their own private car parks making a mockery of the idea of the congestion charge. It's cheaper to drive than to take the tube!

The CZ should be split into two to prevent that.

make all public transport £1 per day to travel any where then we will see i reduction in cars till then not going to happen.

there's somethign fishy about pushin out west, where there is a predominance of large private vehicle owners that will get out of having to pay the charge as they live in the vicinity.

residents don't get out of paying the charge. they get a 90% discount, which on the face of it is almost free, but the minimum charge is one week. So if you drive your car in the week (during charging hours) or if your car is kept on the public highway (true for most of K&C), then you have to pay £208 per year, per car.

In truth the congestion problem in west london is almost non-existant (compared to central london), so in effect it's a tax on the rich.

If and when they raise the congestion charge for higher polluting vehicles (4x4's), of course the tax will go up significantly.

the problem is that it's a bit shit for the people who now live on the new edge of the zone (e.g. fulham, wandsworth etc) as traffic accumulates between 1730-1830 just before the charge ends. And more traffic = more danger for cyclists.

I do agree that what the CC has done has created 2 segregated of congestion. But it's a counter intuitive and counterproductive action to extend the size of the zone. The larger the zone, the more traffic can freely flow within that zone. For example if the CC zone was all greater london, traffic would not be affected, other than for those people who sold their cards because they could not afford the tax.

I'd prefer to see an incremental charge to reflect the public transport infrastructure in the local area. The number of tube stations and bus links in central London are much better than they are in say Uxbridge or Romford, so the charging would need to reflect this. By all means we need to encourage reduced car use, but I don't think it would be 'fair' to impose the same rule on people in poorer parts of town who may live a couple of miles away from a bus stop or tube station who would suffer becuase they can't afford to live closer to the main transport hubs in their area.

It stands to reason that the closer you are to train, tube and bus stations, the more expensive your accommodation and cost of living will be. The issue is to address this, rather than to throw a charge at all and sundry. Identify the issues, develop a solution - it'll work much better in practice than working on the logic 'a higher or more widespread congestion charge will stop people using their cars'.

I think the C zone is totally meaningless.

We should charge cars according to how many miles they drive, to 'pay for roads' which currently there is no correlation between actual amounts car use and tax.

As for congestion and pollution, make public transport truly public by making it a nominal fee to travel, like 20p, and re-regulating it so it isn't run by dodgy operators but by local govt. Also ban HGVs from inside the North/South circulars between 6am and 10pm. And complete ban on 4x4s and any private vehicle capable of 100mph plus and engines over 2000 cc.

That would get people out of their stupid vehicles. Ban them!

Public transport is only any good for going in and out of London. If you want to travel from say Richmond to Croydon you have to go all the way into London and out. Or you can just drive.

er, or ride a bike?

Taxation in this city purely fills the gaps in the budget / P&L of Livingstone's failures.

er, or ride a bike?

14 mile according to google maps so if you lived just the other side of Richmond and worked just he other side of Croydon it could easily be over 15 miles. Too far for most people to commute.

14 mile according to google maps so if you lived just the other side of Richmond and worked just he other side of Croydon it could easily be over 15 miles. Too far for most people to commute.

Initially maybe, but after riding 30 miles a day they would soon get fit and be craving longer commutes.

Means more billboards, I used to work for Decaux, generally the scheme's a good thing... we'd be flooding London's poor cycling infastructure with new riders when the scheme arrives though. (Decaux won't put any funding towards cycling routes/changes as it's simply a "sweeten the deal" thing with acquiring ad-space contracts... let the mayhem ensue!)

I live live in Norway were cars are at least 2x more expensive than in England. Part of the reason for this is registration fees. To get around this you can register your car as for work purposes (goods/tool transport etc) and get a big reduction plus a cool green reg plate.

The thing is, to get this you must not have passenger seats. In fact when the ford S-max came out here with great reviews (a relativly green car when you consider pollution per passenger), they were really popular so long as the back two rows of seats were removed. The work carpark outside of my window is full of two seated 4x4s and people carriers because of this fooked up policy!

Rant rant rant.....grrrr!

We should charge cars according to how many miles they drive, to 'pay for roads' which currently there is no correlation between actual amounts car use and tax.

petrol tax?

Although I do agree with your comment about banning everyone... they should go back to using the railways for goods transport... start a program of installing double-decker railway tracks with good trains running under commuter lines...

And I do think that public transport should bassically be free for people that live in london (but they should double the price for tourists to make up the costs)...

Sorry bit of a flight of fancy, what I meant to say was they should make the west zone a seperate zone so having a ticket for the west (or living there) doesn't give you access to the city... and vice versa.

Initially maybe, but after riding 30 miles a day they would soon get fit and be craving longer commutes.

You seriously think the average person would be happy with a 30 mile r.t commute. Most people on the board would not, let alone people who have no interest in bikes.

This is a good move:

http://www.standard.co.uk/news/transport/end-of-the-free-green-run-now-hybrid-cars-will-have-to-pay-congestion-charge-too-8469699.html

In principle, I agree. However, I also strongly sympathise with the argument that moving the goalposts after someone has bought a car is not on. I'm not affected by this personally, but it would be fairer if people owning an exempt car when the changes are brought in were to remain exempt (wrt that vehicle).