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'Fools rush in' to Congestion Charge scheme expansion
November 24, 2003 12:00 AM
Although the Lib Dems remain staunch supporters of the congestion charge scheme, the Group this week questioned why the Mayor was proceeding with a consultation on an extension into Kensington and Chelsea before the full social, economic and financial impacts were known on the existing scheme. There is no change in the Lib Dem position on congestion charging. The Central Zone scheme has been a stunning success in reducing traffic there by 16 per cent. However, the Mayor's plan to spend over £100 million to extend the scheme westwards into Kensington and Chelsea is not a smart move. Despite the huge start-up and running costs, the extension would only raise about £10m a year in profit to reinvest in public transport. Furthermore we have genuine concerns regarding the haste in proceeding with consultation. There is not enough detail to consult on and the current scheme is still very new. The current Mayor is a Zone 1 Mayor - many of our outer London high streets are also horribly congested. Satellite technology and road pricing could help us get the traffic moving again by targeting congestion hot-spots - the boroughs know only too well where these are.
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