congestion charge... That will be £20 pls!

[leaskovski]

On another London issue, the mayor puts himself in line for further controversy.

He suggests the current £8 congestion charge in the capital should be raised to £20 for cars which give out two or three times the "normal level of carbon emissions".

But he says it will be months before he knows whether it is possible to have a system sophisticated enough to pick out the most polluting vehicles.

London is three quarters of the way towards meeting its target of cutting carbon emissions by 20% on 1990 lessons, he says, but the last quarter will be "the difficult one".

On this page, right down the bottom...
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/5086452.stm

Not sure if this has been talked about on here before? He really wants people to like him doesn't he!

 

[Hate]

the less SUV's in london, the better

 

[D4VE]

And thats after a 60% increase from £5 to £8.

Doesnt bother me though, I dont live there and I dont want to drive there.

 

[v0n]

the less SUV's in london, the better

Most SUVs have smaller footprint and take less space than flashy saloons and MPVs. The more people around London switch from jags, merc, lexii,7 series and their wives from Grand Espaces, Grand Voyagers and even large volvos to SUVs the better.

 

[Stringy]

If this was an extra 'tax' to solely cut pollution I'd understand (although it would still be unpopular - fair taxation always is). However, it's called the 'congestion charge' and I fail to see how a polluting car causes more congestion?
Just another money grabbing scheme for Red Ken, but does he not realise he'd hurt the working class person, which as a lefty, I thought he'd want to protect?

 

[Mr Joshua]

I'd like to see what would happen if everyone decided to switch to public transport starting from next week (in London). I dare say the whole place would pretty much grind to a halt.

 

[D4VE]

Its a poor excuse to get more money from the congestion charge system.

 

[MichaelHo]

omg £20 a day, how do they justify these massive increases!

 

[D4VE]

I'd like to see what would happen if everyone decided to switch to public transport starting from next week (in London). I dare say the whole place would pretty much grind to a halt.

oh no, dont do next week, theres loads of problems with the Tube at the moment.

 

[DRZ]

I have maintained for ages and ages that if for just one day everyone left their cars at home the government's attitude towards motorists and public transport would change.

The country would lose unimaginable amounts of money as everyone totally failed to be able to get to work etc etc.

 

[Townlea]

what happens if the person is running on LPG ???

 

[MaX_PoWah]

I have maintained for ages and ages that if for just one day everyone left their cars at home the government's attitude towards motorists and public transport would change.

The country would lose unimaginable amounts of money as everyone totally failed to be able to get to work etc etc.

It wont happen though, and the goverment knows it, we are a nation of sheep who will continue to blindly pay more and more for the so called
'privilage' of owning a car.

 

[DRZ]

It wont happen though, and the goverment knows it, we are a nation of sheep who will continue to blindly pay more and more for the so called
'privilage' of owning a car.

Of course it wont ever happen, but its good to dream

Owning a car and driving on the roads certainly isnt a right though.

 

[Koncordski]

I'm all for it. If you live in central london i guarantee you can afford to pay the charge and if you are driving there on business the company pays. They are investing huge amounts in the Tube and Bus network and you can see the improvements although there is a long way to go. At the end of the day the whole idea of the car and fuel etc will always get more expensive to run. I'm no lefty or eco-freak but i think Ken has a good thing here. At least the money is used and not siphoned off to unelected quangos like the Gatso cameras.

 

[Trifid]

I have maintained for ages and ages that if for just one day everyone left their cars at home the government's attitude towards motorists and public transport would change.

The country would lose unimaginable amounts of money as everyone totally failed to be able to get to work etc etc.

There wouldn't be anyone in the gourvement to observe this though.

But anyway, if I want to go to London I would drive to upminster and grab the tube/C2C link from there.

 

[v0n]

I'm all for it. If you live in central london i guarantee you can afford to pay the charge and if you are driving there on business the company pays. They are investing huge amounts in the Tube and Bus network and you can see the improvements although there is a long way to go.

Facts:
- Tube is overloaded and overcrowded as it is. Squeezing more people inside won't stretch tunnels in any direction. That's guaranteed. Even July 7th bomb massacre in pre-war tunnels didn't change the fact TFL want to cover their losses extra pronto and will do it in unventilated, overheated, system that was never designed for such volumes and doesn't have any emergency access or internal communication system. Whichever way they improve it, no matter how they paint stations and what surround sound music systems they install on platforms you still can't fit in peak hour trains as it is, so...
- Regular double decker buses were replaced by 18 metre monstrocities that take more space and produce more emissions than before. So clearly neither traffic nor emissions were an issue in the first place.
- Plumbers, sparkies, builders, engineers and contractors won't take their trade and tools into Tube or Buses. Neither will delivery vans, couriers or even anyone who has to wear Armani to work or someone who has to be on time or at least reachable at all times. People who carry cash, important papers, classified materials in electronics forms, presentations that can't be squashed or damaged, techies with equipment, anyone in dirty overalls, anyone with flamable materials, delicate materials and elements, large paperwork and so on, so forth.
- If the best figure CC ever achieved was 30% reduction in traffic then it doesn't mean people don't care about £8 toll, but that 70% of traffic was buses, taxis and those who can't skip the area.

Of course no one cares about how many emissions and fossil fuel is burnt while everyone else drives around CC zone....

 

[Fr0dders]

Most SUVs have smaller footprint and take less space than flashy saloons and MPVs. The more people around London switch from jags, merc, lexii,7 series and their wives from Grand Espaces, Grand Voyagers and even large volvos to SUVs the better.

the wording was polluting vehicles

if so not only would the 4x4s with V8s get punished, but so would the BMWs Mercs etc..

and thats the way it should be, after all, the aim of the whole scheme is to reduce pollution in the city ..

 

[v0n]

and thats the way it should be, after all, the aim of the whole scheme is to reduce pollution in the city ..

In that case the first thing to go should be Citaro bendy buses, as they polute more than any other TFL bus due to their weight. Most registered london taxis have Co2 and NOX figures close to any other 4x4 on the road and equally bad mpg...

Plus, last year during People's Question Time one of the members of London Assembly quoted research done for CC and admitted that all motor traffic, buses, taxis, deliveries etc in central London is only mere 20% of all CO2 emissions for the area. The rest of emissions come from offices and shops. But drivers are not as organized and won't fight back when tickled up theirs with a big stick...

 

[Sputnik II]

I dare say the whole place would pretty much grind to a halt.

Pretty much like the tube did today then ?

Ken is an absolute waste of money, the sooner his gotten rid of the better.

 

[Overlag]

omg £20 a day, how do they justify these massive increases!

why does a single person need a people carrier or a jeep to get to work in central london?

wouldnt a 1 to 1.4litre small hatchback be more suited to the job?