London Congestion Charge

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The London congestion charge ( English for London Congestion Charge ) is a city toll , motorists in central London have to pay. London is not the first, but was the largest city to charge such a fee until 2006. The organization responsible for the fee is Transport for London (TfL), which also runs the London public transport system.

The purpose of this toll is to encourage travelers to use local public transport , more environmentally friendly vehicles, bicycles and motorcycles or to walk instead of motor vehicles . This should reduce traffic jams and the associated environmental pollution and make the duration of journeys more predictable. According to its own information, TfL invests a large part of the money raised in local transport.

The fee was introduced on February 17, 2003. The registered owner of a vehicle with which the marked toll zone is to be used on weekdays (Monday-Friday) between 7 am and 6 pm must pay a daily fee of £ 11.50  or £ 10.50 when using the automatic payment system (as of 20. March 2016) . If the fee is not paid by midnight on the same day, it will be increased to £ 14. This is to serve as an incentive not to pay at the last minute. If payment has still not been made by midnight of the next day, a current fine of £ 130 (50% discount if paid within 14 days) will apply. If the fine is not paid within 28 days it increases to £ 195. The daily charge was £ 5 through July 4, 2005, £ 8 through January 3, 2011 and £ 10 through June 15, 2014.

Some vehicles are exempt from the fee, for example buses, emergency vehicles used by the police, fire brigade and rescue services, vehicles with alternative drives, minibuses of a certain size, motorcycles and bicycles, as well as taxis. Technically, some of these vehicles only get full discounts, but they still need to be registered. Residents of the toll zone can save up to 90% of the tolls by paying for a period of at least one week.

The toll zone

Original area of ​​the London Congestion Charge

The boundary of the first zone is also known as the inner ring road of London . Clockwise from the northernmost point, the zone is seen through the larger streets Pentonville Road , City Road , Old Street , Commercial Street , Mansell Street , Tower Bridge Road , New Kent Road , Elephant and Castle , Vauxhall Bridge Road , Park Lane , Edgware Road , Marylebone Road and Euston Road defined. Smaller roads close the resulting gaps. There is no fee to be paid to use the border roads. Between Christmas and New Year 2002, markings were put up on all entrance roads to draw the drivers' attention to the charging.

These streets encompass the entire City of London , the financial district and the West End of London , the city's primary commercial and entertainment center. Of the nine million people in Greater London , around 136,000 live within the first toll zone, which is viewed as a commercial area rather than a residential area.

On February 19, 2007, the Western Extension (extension of the zone to the west) came into force, with effect from January 4, 2011 this extension was withdrawn.

Toxicity charge (pollutant toll)

A new toxicity fee was introduced on October 23, 2017 . Older and more polluting cars and delivery vans that do not meet Euro 4 standards will have to pay a £ 10 fee in addition to the congestion charge in order to be allowed to drive within the Congestion Charge toll zone in central London. The tax typically applies to vehicles with diesel or gasoline engines that were registered before 2006. London Mayor Sadiq Khan announced this on February 17, 2017 after London hit record levels of air pollution in January 2017. The EU limit values ​​for nitrogen oxides in the air, which are mainly emitted by diesel vehicles, were regularly exceeded. As a further support for air improvement, only electric or hybrid taxis have been licensed since January 2018 . On April 8, 2019, a tightened toll came into force, the amount of which was set at £ 12.50. It is collected 24 hours a day. It is to be expanded to large parts of the city in 2021.

Technology and enforcement

Cameras and vehicles carry out video surveillance of the zone. The vehicles can be identified by a sticker on the rear door.

The enforcement of the toll is implemented through video surveillance of the streets with 230  surveillance cameras , 180 of which are installed on the edge of the area. In addition, a number of mobile cameras are used within the toll zone. The proportion of vehicles recorded in this way in total traffic is estimated at 98%. The video data is transmitted to a data center in central London, where the owner of the vehicle is determined using automatic license plate recognition . A second data center takes over the data backup of the images.

While this procedure is not infallible, a reasonable probability of success is sufficient as a deterrent. When entering and exiting the zone, the front and rear number plates are therefore recorded, which means there are four chances of identifying a vehicle. The 50 cameras within the toll area record vehicles that were not identified upon entry or that are only moving within the zone.

The vehicle list obtained in this way is automatically compared with the list of vehicles for which the toll has already been paid. Anyone who pays but is not recorded within the toll area is not entitled to a refund. However, anyone who does not pay and is still recorded faces a fine. The owner of such a vehicle is determined by means of a database provided by the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency in Swansea . The fine is £ 65 within the first two weeks, £ 130 thereafter and £ 195 if the amount has not been paid after four weeks.

While private vehicle owners have to pay the toll on their own initiative, other rules apply to business vehicles. A company can register a fleet of vehicles with TfL at a cost of £ 5 per day for each vehicle monitored.

In May 2005, businessman Miguel Camacho founded fivepounds.co.uk . Private vehicles could be registered as part of fivepounds.co.uk's company vehicle fleet. As a result, the vehicle owner no longer had to proactively pay the toll , avoided fines and even got "free" trips if the cameras were not detected. Fivepounds.co.uk charged a monthly administration fee of £ 10 so the offer was only attractive to regular visitors to the zone. TfL, who generate 36% of their revenue through fines, then requested the submission of the vehicle registration documents for the registration of company vehicles. Due to a rule change by the competent authority, the "fleet" had to close on February 26, 2006.

Economic basis

From the point of view of economics , roads are public goods that differ from private goods in terms of non- excludability and non- rivalry . This means that the good is not "consumed" through use and individuals are usually not excluded from use. For this reason, roads usually have to be built by the state, because the market itself does not provide them in sufficient quantities.

However, on a busy street, users hinder each other, creating a certain rivalry. If an individual user now uses this road, he affects others, but does not take it into account. An external effect arises which, without intervention, prevents a welfare-optimized decision and leads to market failure . A congestion charge can remedy this deficiency. In order to achieve this, it should be just as high as third parties rate the disability caused by the user, which the user has to include in his calculation.

Ideally, the fee should therefore be adjusted to the current traffic load. For example, it should be significantly higher during rush hour than at night with little traffic. The London Congestion Charge only partially achieves this goal, as it is not collected during the night, but does not vary during the day and the extent of the disability of third parties (e.g. the duration of the journey) is not taken into account.

In connection with private transport , there are other external effects such as environmental pollution , which can, however, also be offset by a general mineral oil tax .

From an economic point of view , it generally makes sense to levy a toll for the use of congested roads.

particularities

London's stowage planning has drawn attention for several reasons:

  • It is the UK's first large-scale toll project ; previously only a smaller model was tested in Durham . Drivers have to pay £ 2 on weekdays between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. to enter a small area of ​​the city. In addition to camera surveillance, bollards are also used here, which are automatically lowered after payment when leaving the zone. The trial proved successful as it reduced traffic within this small zone from 2000 to around 200 vehicles per day.
  • Since many other cities with high traffic congestion around the world are also confronted with frequent congestion, similar models could be adopted in other cities if the London toll actually proves to be an obstacle to congestion.
  • The system is based on advanced technology; drivers can pay the fee via SMS , in shops with a PayPoint or by phone .
  • The total cost of implementing the plan, including installing the cameras , charging call center and advertising campaign to alert drivers to the system, was over £ 250 million. A payback was expected within three years. However, due to the decline in traffic and the associated decline in TfL's income (see below), this expectation was not fulfilled.

Opponents of the toll criticize insufficient public transport capacity and the social incompatibility of the flat fee. On the other hand, during the chargeable times, free parking spaces are only available for residents and the toll is less than the average parking fee for one hour.

TfL commissioned Capita plc to implement the model. Subcontractors included Mastek Ltd from Mumbai , India , who were responsible for the IT infrastructure. According to her, it is the largest project that has been implemented with Microsoft's .NET platform to date . Due to the global distribution of the companies involved in countries with different data protection guidelines , the project has raised concerns about safeguarding privacy . As confirmed Ken Livingstone (then Mayor of London) saying that a remote control of the cameras is possible and the data stood the investigating authorities made available in the case of investigations. Livingstone also announced that, for security reasons, the cameras would remain in operation even if the system failed.

The toll in practice

Road markings and signs on Old Street draw attention to the toll.

A rough start was feared before the introduction of the toll. Ken Livingstone, as mayor of London's most important proponent of the toll, even feared a "bloody day". In fact, the system caused a dramatic drop in traffic in the city center for the first two days. On the first day, 190,000 vehicles entered the zone during the chargeable period. This represents a decrease of around 25%. Given the 45,000 exempted vehicles, the total decrease was over 30%. Individual voices reported a reduction in travel times by half. About 100,000 drivers paid the fee themselves, 15,000 to 20,000 were company vehicles, and an estimated 10,000 drivers did not pay the fee. With the introduction of the toll, 300 new buses (out of a total of around 20,000) were put into operation. The bus companies and London Underground reported a slight increase in passenger numbers. Occasionally, however, it was reported that overcrowding , which was problematic during rush hour , had increased even further.

At first it was assumed that the reduced traffic was due to the school holidays, but this turned out to be wrong. Reports showed a steady decline in traffic in the first month after the toll went into operation. This decrease was at least 15%, in the first week even 20%. Although precise statistics were outside the media interest, the toll is considered successful.

On October 23, 2003, TfL published a report examining the first six months after the toll was introduced. According to this report, the average number of vehicles entering the central area decreased by 60,000 compared to the previous year, representing a 30% decrease in non-exempt vehicles. 50 to 60% of this is attributed to the use of public transport and 20 to 30% to avoiding the zone. The rest is caused by car pooling , reduced journeys, increased driving outside the operating hours of the toll system and increased use of two-wheelers . According to the report, travel times have been reduced by an average of 15%. The variance in travel times on an observed, heavily traveled route also decreased.

According to the report, the toll only caused a minor decline in retail sales. In August 2003, the John Lewis Partnership announced an 8% decrease in sales of its Oxford Street business during the first half of the year after the toll system went live. However, sales of other stores outside the toll zone increased, such as in Kingston upon Thames . TfL replied that only 0.5% of the toll reduction could be blamed, London suffered from its long-term inability to modernize its transport routes and infrastructure . TfL claimed that London would do well in the long term thanks to the toll.

The report put the number of fines issued at around 100,000 per month, with about 2000 of these being objected to by those affected. The significantly more than expected reduction in traffic meant a revenue of just £ 68 million for TfL. Originally, TfL had announced 130 million. According to the report, the toll system does not noticeably affect the number of accidents, so the slightly downward trend is maintained.

Another report published in October 2004 stated that by 2010 only 7 of the 13 government targets for transport in London had been met. The traffic jams are not reduced sufficiently, which indicates an error in the toll collection guidelines. However, the report relates to London as a whole and the congestion can mainly be attributed to the access roads in the suburbs, where building a local transport network is more difficult and where motor vehicles are used more often.

A BBC report published in May 2006 found that the US embassy in London refused to pay the congestion fee. The US embassy considers the congestion fee to be a tax that diplomats are exempt from under the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations . In the period from October 2005 to May 2006 alone, vehicles at the US Embassy in London were fined £ 271,000, but these cannot be enforced due to diplomatic immunity. Other countries also refuse to pay, including Russia, Japan and Germany.

Toll history

There have always been many toll roads in England , as they did now. Tariffs came up as a result of the street deterioration in the late 17th century. This decline was caused by the Protestant Reformation when the Catholic monks no longer cared for the streets. At the end of the 18th century, the English road network was mostly tolled. Customs roads were finally abolished in the late 19th century after the competition between the railways and the protests of travelers, who often had to pay customs duties over long distances, became overwhelming.

Although the model of an inner city toll is widely attributed to the Lord Mayor of London Ken Livingstone, he himself cites Nobel Prize winner Milton Friedman as the source for the idea . General road tariffs were previously touted by others, such as the 18th century economist Adam Smith .

In the mid-1990s, the UK government was considering plans that are similar to today's toll. The London Congestion Research Program found in July 1995 that London's economy would benefit from such a program. The Greater London Authority Act of 1999 gave every mayor of London the right to introduce a toll system. After his election victory in 2000 Livingstone decided that right in his election manifesto promised to use and negotiated with interested parties. The basic model was agreed in February 2002 and put into operation on February 17, 2003 with a few compromises .

After the introduction of the toll, there were a number of changes that were desired in the future. Livingstone announced a formal review of the system just six months after it went live. A year was originally planned; however, thanks to the successful start, Livingstone shortened the time span. On February 25, 2003, he announced that he could not foresee any events that would make it necessary to change the amount of the toll, but that this could change in a few years. He thus indicated that the £ 5 would be adequate to obstruct traffic as desired.

He contradicted this statement in an interview with BBC London in November 2004 when he said it had always been clear that the fee would be increased to at least £ 6 during his second term. At the end of the month Livingstone made another switch and now advocated increasing the fee to £ 8 for private and £ 7 for business vehicles. Business groups such as London First reacted angrily to the announcement, calling it "neither satisfactory nor acceptable". The increase to £ 8 was formally announced on April 1, 2005, along with discounts on monthly and annual passes.

Shortly after the fee was introduced, newspapers speculated that an extension of the toll zone was part of Livingstone's re-election manifesto (under the Labor Party ) in 2004. In fact, in February 2004 TfL collected survey data about a western extension of the zone, which would then cover the rest of the country City of Westminster and the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea .

In August 2004, TfL published the results of the survey. Many of the respondents did not want an extension, but Livingstone said that the results were representative. For critics, this was taken as confirmation that the entire survey was a kind of eyewash for legal protection.

Steven Norris , the 2004 Conservative Party's candidate for mayor , is known as a fierce critic of the toll and, based on Ken Livingstone, calls it a “kengestion charge”. If the election was won, he promised to abolish the toll and to waive unpaid fines by June 11, 2004. In an interview with London's Evening Standard newspaper, Conservative Chairman Michael Howard backed his candidate by saying the toll "undoubtedly" had a detrimental impact on London's business.

Signs mark the border of the toll zone.

Simon Hughes , the Liberal Democrat candidate , supported the basic principles of the model. Among other things, he suggested a possible payment the next day, a reduction in operating hours to 5 p.m. and 5 days off per year for each vehicle recorded.

In May 2005, TfL announced a further survey with specific suggestions for expansion. These included a plan to increase sales in London's theaters, restaurants and cinemas, which would be achieved by reducing tolls by 30 minutes.

As a result of the attack on the London Underground , toll collection was suspended on July 7th and 8th, 2005.

After Livingstone's re-election and the confirmation of the western expansion in September 2005, it was carried out on February 19, 2007. This doubled the area of ​​the zone and now includes boroughs like Kensington and Chelsea . The mayor admitted that an increase in traffic in the existing area was to be expected due to the 230,000 residents of the extended zone entitled to discounts. The majority of those previously interviewed vehemently opposed enlargement. This particularly affected businesses that are already struggling for their sales. However, the core area of ​​London's shopping area, Oxford Street , is located in the previously passed zone. Livingstone defended his position on environmental grounds, but Gerry Archer, chairman of the mayor's Climate Change Partnership , stated that he had nothing to do with the toll.

Further effects

Other cities with inner city tolls include Oslo , Bergen , Trondheim , Milan and Singapore . Singapore was the first city to introduce a toll in 1975.

Thanks to the traffic-blocking effect of the London toll, some, like the left-wing think tank Institute for Public Policy Research , are calling for comparable systems for other parts of the country. In November 2003, however, the State Secretary responsible for transport, Alistair Darling, denied that, with the exception of Edinburgh, cities had approached the government for assistance in implementing a toll system. After the publication of offers from the UK Transport Innovation Fund in November 2005, this should change. A toll in Edinburgh is currently seen as unlikely after 75% of voters opposed it in a poll. Unlike London, where Ken Livingstone had sufficient authority to issue the toll, other cities require the approval of the Secretary of State for Transport under the Transport Act 2000 .

Cities in other countries are also observing the London model. For example, councilors in Queens and Brooklyn cited a report from the London Chamber of Commerce alleging that the toll was damaging to business. This should be the mayor of New York City , Michael Bloomberg , are deterred by a toll system.

literature

  • London Congestion Research Program . HMSO, London 1995, ISBN 0-11-551755-3 .
  • Martin G. Richards: Congestion Charging in London. The Policy and the Politics. Palgrave Macmillian, Basingstoke 2006, ISBN 1-403-93240-9 .

Web links

Commons : London congestion charge  - collection of images, videos and audio files

General information

Reports

Newspaper articles

Technical details

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Björn Finke: London is in crawl . In: sueddeutsche.de . March 1, 2017, ISSN  0174-4917 ( sueddeutsche.de [accessed January 30, 2018]).
  2. ↑ Björn Finke: The toxic toll is supposed to solve London's traffic problems . In: sueddeutsche.de . January 28, 2018, ISSN  0174-4917 ( sueddeutsche.de [accessed January 30, 2018]).
  3. ↑ Kimiko de Freytas-Tamura: A Push for Diesel Leaves London Gasping Amid Record Pollution . In: The New York Times . February 17, 2017, ISSN  0362-4331 (English, nytimes.com [accessed January 30, 2018]).
  4. ^ A b Andreas Schlieker: "Ultra Environment Zone" in London: Baby, you can drive your car. In: zdf.de . April 8, 2019, accessed April 9, 2019 .
  5. ↑ London is serious: environmental toll for old diesel and gasoline engines. In: br.de . April 8, 2019, accessed April 9, 2019 .
  6. ^ David Williams: TfL changes rules to stop C-charge 'fleet' scheme . In: Evening Standard , Associated Newspapers Limited, May 9, 2005. Archived from the original on June 14, 2008. Retrieved January 6, 2008. 
  7. ↑ US tops 'congestion charge debt' . May 1, 2006 (English, bbc.co.uk [accessed January 30, 2018]).
  8. ^ Hélène Mulholland: Foreign diplomats owe £ 23m over London congestion charge. November 19, 2008, accessed January 30, 2018 .
This version was added to the list of articles worth reading on February 16, 2006 .