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July 10, 2001
London Drivers to Pay $7 Toll
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
LONDON (AP) -- Drivers will have to pay $7 a day to bring their cars into
congested central London as part of a plan aimed at reducing weekday traffic
by 15 percent in the British capital.
The fee, announced Tuesday, goes into effect in January 2003. Mayor Ken
Livingstone, who has made the toll a priority, said the $282 million it is
expected to bring in annually will be used to improve the city's ailing
public transportation system.
Car owners will have to submit their vehicle registration numbers to
London's transit agency and pay the fee by phone, by mail, over the Internet
or at designated shops.
A network of cameras will be used to check license plates to make sure that
those driving between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. Monday through Friday have paid.
Violators could be ticketed as much as $112.
Livingstone said London's worsening traffic had become a drag on its
economy.
``It would be negligent not to proceed rapidly,'' he said. ``Continuing
doing business every day in London is a nightmare.''
Motorcycles, taxis, buses, emergency vehicles, mail trucks and cars owned by
disabled people will be exempt from the charge. Central London residents who
own cars will get a 90 percent discount.
Livingstone promised to use proceeds from the so-called ``congestion
charge'' to add more buses and improve the subway system.
Peter Fitch, a Livingstone spokesman, said the plan will benefit those who
pay the fee because they'll be able to get around the city better.
``Everyone agrees that congestion is killing our city,'' Fitch said.
``Something's got to be done. This seems to be the best option that we
have.''
Not everyone is so convinced.
``We are concerned in London because the Tube system is at bursting point,
the rail network is full and the buses are unreliable,'' said Edmund King,
executive director of the RAC Foundation, a motorists' group. ``We do not
believe that you should charge people out of their cars until alternatives
are in place first.''
Singapore and several Norwegian cities have similar charges for city-center
drivers, but Fitch said London would be the largest city in the world to
implement such a fee. Other British cities and counties, including
Manchester, Nottingham, Cambridgeshire, Derby, Durham and Birmingham are
considering congestion charges.
Livingstone has been battling Prime Minister Tony Blair's government over
its proposal to partly privatize the London Underground, which is the
world's oldest subway system and is frequently overcrowded and plagued by
breakdowns. The mayor wants to keep the system under public control.
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