Other Factors

There are several other factors which can be looked at when assessing the success of the charge. It isn’t just about whether congestion has been cut and whether revenue’s are on the up for the council.

We must also realise that the UK has an emissions problem and have been looking at ways to cut the problem down. Although the transport strategy in 2001 didn’t state that the congestion charge was created for this purpose, there was a general consensus that the emissions rates in London would be reduced.

In the fourth annual report of impact monitoring [5] stated that because of the charge and the fact that vehicle technology is steadily improving the air quality. Nitrogen oxides have fallen by 13% and PM10 (small pollution particles) emissions fell by 15%.

TfL do admit that these reductions could be because of several factors as well as the congestion charge, but even the most ardent of anti-congestion charge campaigners would admit that this isn’t merely coincidental.

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References:

[5]: Transport for London, Central London Congestion Charging
Impacts Monitoring
Fourth Annual Report 2006
http://www.tfl.gov.uk/tfl/cclondon/pdfs/FourthAnnualReportFinal.pdf
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