London looks to expand success of easing traffic congestion

By BARRIE CLEMENT

A year after the congestion charging zone was established in London, Mayor Ken Livingstone is to kick-start a process aimed at doubling the area it covers.

Despite indications that he was harbouring doubts over expanding the scheme into Kensington and Chelsea, he will this week begin a consultation exercise on the issue throughout London.

Transport for London is sending leaflets to 3.3 million householders and 250 businesses canvassing opinion on the expansion project, which will cost in excess of £100 million ($267 million).

It is thought that Livingstone's enthusiasm for the initiative has been rekindled by predictions that he will win a decisive victory in the mayoral elections this year.

His political stock has rarely been higher than now, at a time the volume of traffic entering the capital has reached its lowest level for around four decades.

Cities all over the world which have been watching the experiment with scepticism are now taking an active interest in copying it.

The success of the £5 ($13) toll in relieving traffic jams in central London is generally - if in some cases grudgingly - accepted.

Cars entering the zone have dropped by around 50,000 a day, about 38 per cent. Average speeds on five key routes inside the area have risen more than threefold.

Although traffic is still reaching only 11.9km/h, the increase is described by the Royal Automobile Club as "startling".

The "rat runs" and traffic jams on the edge of the zone predicted by critics have failed to materialise. Bus patronage has increased substantially and three times more people are cycling to work.

A survey by London First published yesterday says that almost three-quarters of businesses believe the charge is working. Some 58 per cent thought it had been good for the capital's image.

Just a quarter of respondents thought it was having a bad impact on the local economy. These were generally the smaller traders.

Richard Bourn of the campaign group Transport 2000 believes that the reduction in takings in central London has had more to do with the general state of the economy.

Fear of terrorist attacks and the weakness of the dollar have deterred big-spending Americans.

The development of out-of-town shopping centres has given shoppers an alternative, he said.

Bourn is confident that over the next two or three years restaurateurs and traders will see the benefit of the charge because the centre of London will be a more pleasant place.

"People will want to spend more time there and incidentally they will spend more money."

But it is not just traders who have misgivings about the charge. A survey conducted by the Kensington and Chelsea council found that only 2.5 per cent of residents supported the westward extension of the zone.

The scheme has been a victim of its own success. It is expected to raise £68.4 million to reinvest in public transport rather than the £180 million envisaged.

The initiative has been so successful in deterring motorists that revenues from charges have been considerably lower than expected.

- INDEPENDENT