Central London Congestion Charging

1. International Union of Air Pollution Prevention and Environmental Protection Association in association with the Integrated Program on Urban, Regional and Global Air Pollution Mexico City January 19-23 2004 Central London Congestion Charging David HutchinsonGREATER LONDONAUTHORITY

2. What I will talk about today • Background and context • Operation of the scheme • Projected impacts of the scheme • Importance of monitoring • Some early indicative results • Issues we have had to overcome

3. Central London • Greater London - largest urban area in Europe, over 7 million population • Central London - 1 million workers, heart of UK business, government, media, heritage • Suffered worst traffic congestion in the UK • average traffic speeds 15km/hr • vehicles typically spent half their time in queues • Congestion was increasing, costing people and business time and money • General acceptance - ‘something had to be done’

4. Part of a wider strategy • Congestion charging part of London-wide Strategy - No.1 priority ‘tackling congestion’ • Integrated approach: public transport; parking & loading enforcement; congestion charging • Extensive public consultation over 18 months • Public transport improvements in advance • Associated traffic management • Commitment to monitoring and adjustments

5. So how does congestion charging work?

8. T 123 CBI T 123 CBI T 123 CBI T 123 ABC Paying the Charge • Daily, weekly, monthly or annual payment,for individual vehicle registration number • Flat charge of £5 per day (Monday - Friday 7am - 6.30pm) for all vehicles • Payment by post, telephone, internet, SMS, or at self service machines, retail outlets and some petrol stations • Payment available up until midnight, but charge rises to £10 after 10pm

9. Enforcement • Vehicle registration numbers observed by fixed and mobile cameras and compared with payment database • Cameras linked to automatic number plate recognition technology • If no record of payment by midnight, £80 penalty charge sent to registered keeper of vehicle • Vehicles of persistent evaders clamped and / or removed

10. Camera enforcement

11. Motorbikes/mopeds Military vehicles Emergency services Taxis and licensed minicabs Disabled persons Buses, coaches and minibuses Certain alternative fuel vehicles Breakdown & recovery vehicles Certain health service workers 90% discount for residents of zone Key Exemptions and Discounts

12. Projected impacts • Reduce traffic inside charging zone by 10-15% and 2-3% in Inner London • Cut traffic delays by 20-30% inside charging zone and 5-10% outside • Traffic speeds increase by 10-15% inside charging zone and 2-4% immediately outside • Help bus operations • Improve journey times and reliability • Net revenues of £130 million per year

13. Investing the revenue – early years • Improvements: bus network, including night services network accessibility safety and security for pedestrians and cyclists interchanges • Accelerating road and bridge maintenance • Transport funding for local authorities

14. Investing the revenue - long term • Expanded Underground and rail capacity: new services across and around London • New river crossings of the River Thames • Improved access to London’s town centres • Tram or segregated bus schemes • Selected improvements to London’s roads

15. Public Transport Improvements • Substantial enhancements to bus capacity: - New routes - Frequency increases on existing routes - Introduction of larger buses • New 24-hour services • Bus fares frozen • Better enforcement of bus lanes • Better information & security • Some improvements on Underground & Rail

16. Monitoring the impacts • Comprehensive 5 year monitoring programme • Traffic patterns and traffic conditions • Public transport operations and passenger levels • Social impacts, including vulnerable groups • Business and economic effects • Environmental impacts, particularly air quality • Case studies • Results published every year • First Annual Report published 3 June 2003

17. Some early success • 20% reduction in traffic entering the zone • Sample traffic reduction of 16% within the zone • No increase in traffic on Inner Ring Road • No significant change in traffic levels outside the zone • Sample traffic speeds within the zone increased by 10-15% • Around 100,000 payments received each day • Public transport able to handle displaced car users • Bus patronage increased by 14% in peak hour

18. Traffic entering the congestion charging zone

19. Traffic inside the congestion charging zone

20. Traffic on the Inner Ring Road

21. Bus delays due to traffic congestion

22. Bus speeds

23. Bus reliability

24. Payment channels • 100,000 payments received each day • % split between all channels: • Retail - 37% • Web - 25% • SMS - 18% • Call Centre - 20% (of which 6% using IVR)

25. Key issues we have overcome • Translating theory into practice in 33 months • Presenting congestion charging to the public • Creating the organisational arrangements • Managing a complex project • Improving public transport • Managing traffic around the charging zone • Public information

26. Further informationTransport for London www.tfl.gov.ukMain public website on congestion chargingwww.cclondon.com/Background paperswww.tfl.gov.uk/tfl/cclondon/cc_intro.shtml