Case Study

London's Congestion Charge Cuts CO2 Emissions by

16%
November 03 2011London

Summary
London is the largest city to have adopted a central area congestion charging
scheme. It has led to a 20% reduction in four-wheeled traffic within the charging zone
during charging hours, cutting an estimated 40-50 million litres of vehicle fuel
consumption inside the zone and a total 100,000 tons CO2 emissions annually
across London. The charge raises 122 M annually which is then spent on improving
transport, including providing more buses, improving road safety and implementing
energy efficiency in transport. The zone was further extended in February 2007,
doubling its size, with initial estimates showing a 13% reduction in traffic in the new
area covered. Monitoring of this extended zone has not yet been completed.

What is it?
Congestion charging was first introduced into central London in February 2003. It is a
daily charge of 8 for driving or parking a vehicle on public roads within the
congestion zone between 0700 and 1800 on Monday to Fridays, excluding public
holidays and weekends.

How does it work?

The original central London congestion charging zone covered 22 square kilometres
in the heart of London, with a western boundary from Vauxhall, through Victoria,
Marble Arch to the Edgware Road. In February 2007, the zone was extended by
about 50% to include parts of west central London and included a free route (the
original western boundary) through the centre of the enlarged zone.

Features

There are no toll booths. Drivers can pay the charge on the web, by SMS text
message, in outlets equipped with PayPoint an electronic payment system, or by
telephone;

Fixed cameras at the entrance points of the zone automatically capture the
number plates of vehicles within the zone. A penalty of 100 applies to the registered
keepers of vehicles recorded within the zone that have not paid the charge; this is
reduced to 50 if paid within 14 days;

Various vehicle types are exempt, including buses, taxis, private hire vehicles
and motorcycles; other types of vehicle can register for a 90% or 100% discount,
such as vehicles used by residents of the zone or used by those with a disabled
persons badge.

Impacts

Traffic levels inside the charging zone have been cut by 20%, equating to
75,000 vehicles;

The scheme has reduced congestion in the zone by around 30% during
charging hours; Furthermore, the level of congestion on roads bounding the zone is
also down;

The main response by car drivers is a switch to public transport - around

40,000 daily movements. There has also been a large increase in pedal cycle trips
an 83% increase across London which the congestion charge has helped
stimulate;

The scheme has resulted in net reductions of between 40-70 road traffic
casualties per annum;

The retail sector in central London is now outperforming the rest of the UK
and is returning to a long-standing pattern of year-on-year growth;

The charge has had no identifiable effect on commercial property values in

the original zone;

The combined effect of charging and improved vehicle technology has

resulted is that NOx emissions have fallen by 13% and total PM10 emissions have
fallen by 15%.

CO2 reduction

A 16% reduction in road transport CO2 emissions were estimated within the
original charging zone, amounting to 30,000 tonnes annually. Figures are not yet
available for the extended zone

Approximately half of this is due to 75,000 fewer vehicles daily and half due to
the remaining traffic experiencing less congestion, saving an estimated 40-50 million
litres of vehicle fuel consumption;

The London-wide CO2 reduction is estimated at around 100,000 tonnes, ~1%

of Londons total road traffic CO2. Worth around 2.5m at a social cost of CO2 of
25/ton. CO2 reduction estimates are derived from the reduced consumption of
petrol and diesel fuel by road vehicles as a result of less travel to the charging zone
and improved fuel consumption as a consequence of less delays.

Financial investment

The original zone cost 160m to set up, with annual operating costs of 90m.
The additional costs for the extension to the zone are 140m implementation costs
and 43m annual operating costs.

In 2005-06 the original scheme generated surplus revenues of 122m, all of

which is required by law to be spent on projects and programmes in support of the
Mayors transport strategy. Recipients include:

bus network operations 100m

roads and bridges 14m
road safety 4m
walking and cycling 4m
It is forecast that the extension to the scheme will bring in an additional 25m to
40m per annum.

Next steps

Scheme is operating well. TfL is investigating adjustments to the charge to

reflect CO2 emissions of cars: Higher charge for emission rates above 225g/km; zero
charge for emission rates below 120g/km.

The current residents discount may also be withdrawn for vehicles with
emissions rates about 225g/km equating to an additional cost of over 6,000 per
year for residents who drive every day within the zone

There are no proposals to further widen the zone as the area covered is
considered to be the maximum size by which it could operate effectively.

Application

Numerous adjustments to the operation of the scheme have been made. For
example alterations to the definitions of exempt vehicles and the introduction of pay
next day whereby drivers no longer need to pay the charge in advance or on the day
of travel;
TfL Congestion Charging Scheme publications library, including annual impact
monitoring reports is available from the Transport for London website.

Has London's congestion charge worked?

By Claire Timms
BBC News, London
15 February 2013
The congestion charge has generated a net revenue of over 1bn since 2003
The biggest congestion charge scheme to launch in any city got off to a smooth
start on the morning of 17 February 2003, much to the surprise of London's then
mayor Ken Livingstone.

A decade on he readily admits it was the only thing in his entire political career
that "turned out better than I expected".
Motorists travelling into central London on that Monday morning faced the new
5 daily charge, and by the afternoon 57,000 had paid it.
The RAC reported there was not the anticipated early rush of drivers trying to get
across the eight-square mile zone before 7am - the time the charge came in.
Mr Livingstone said: "What was amazing was nothing went wrong.
"We'd expected we'd have quite a few bits of congestion on the periphery, but
we couldn't find a single point where the traffic didn't flow.
"The only real problem we had were the buses were all running so ahead of
schedule they had to wait at the bus stop for a couple minutes."
At the time officials from 30 other British cities were reported to be considering
introducing congestion charges if London's scheme was successful.
That never happened and, further afield, the only cities to adopt a similar
scheme since are Milan and Stockholm.
Mr Livingstone believes there are two reasons: political cowardice and "modern"
cities built after the introduction of the car that do not need a congestion charge.
He said: "If it wasn't for the Republicans, who control the New York State
Assembly, Manhattan island would have one. Mayor Bloomberg really wants to
do it but he can't get the votes.
"In Manchester the politicians were so nervous they said: 'we'll have a
referendum first'.
"If I'd had a referendum first, with all the hysteria in the newspapers - I had two
and a half years of newspapers saying it would be a disaster - you'd never have
got it through. It was all doom and gloom.
"Political cowardice is always going to be a problem: people think they might lose
votes if they do it - but very few cities actually need it."
Mr Livingstone now sees pollution as London's biggest challenge.
"We've all woken up to the fact that in London over 4,000 people die prematurely
every year because of the air quality - that's worse than 9/11," he said.
"We're not just talking about a few elderly people dying a few months early. On
average they're dying 11 years early.
"We've got to tackle it - that's the low-emission zone and Boris [Johnson] should
be pressing ahead very rapidly and tightening up on diesel vehicles."

Although he scrapped the scheme's western extension zone when he succeeded

Mr Livingstone in 2010, Mr Johnson has described the original scheme as a
success which had benefited London.
On Wednesday he announced his vision to see the world's first "Ultra Low
Emission Zone", meaning by 2020 only zero or low-emission cars would be
allowed into central London. Time will tell if the argument for what seems a
radical change can be won.
And although the congestion charge - which was also seen as a radical step a
decade ago - has won over many of the original doubters, there are still those
who claim it has not been a success.
According to TfL figures, traffic levels over the past 10 years have gone down by
10.2% but journey times for drivers have remained flat since 2007.
Barry Neil, whose east London-based company Ambient Computer Services
travels into central London daily delivering computer equipment, claims this is
evidence the congestion charge has failed.
He said: "We said when it launched it wasn't going to make any difference and
unfortunately it hasn't.
"If it made it easier to drive through London, then great. But it doesn't. The jams
are just as bad and it costs us 5,000 a year."