C-Charge Consultation Begins

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Residents living on borders are invited to take part

A five-week public consultation on the future of the Western Extension of the Congestion Charging zone began today (1 September), the Mayor of London’s office announced.

The consultation is open to anybody who wants to take part, but Mayor Boris Johnson says he particularly wants to hear from local residents, retailers and businesses within or on the borders of the extension zone.

“I remain to be persuaded on exactly what we should do with the extension so this is a superb opportunity for anyone with an opinion to get involved and help influence my final decision,” Johnson said.

“As well as the obvious options of keeping it or removing it, I would be very keen to know what Londoners think of suggestions such as having a charge-free period during the middle of the day,” he added.

Transport for London (TfL) is asking those taking part if they want the Western Extension kept as it is, removed, or whether they want certain aspects of it changed to address specific concerns.

Possible changes to the scheme include:

• Making the Congestion Charge easier to pay by introducing accounts (this would apply to the Western Extension and original charging zone).
• Introducing a charge-free period in the middle of the day in the Western Extension.
• Increasing the residents' discount to 100 per cent (this would apply to the Western Extension and original charging zone).

Anyone taking part in the consultation can also suggest any other changes they think could improve the scheme.

Kit Malthouse, London Assembly Member for West Central – which includes Shepherd’s Bush - said: “I believe there were strong economic and environmental arguments against introducing the Western Extension and I should expect the consultation to find a majority in favour of its removal.”

TfL recently reported that more than five years after the Congestion Charge was launched, and over a year after the Western Extension began, traffic in central London remained 21 per cent lower than pre-charge levels and traffic entering the extension had fallen by 14 per cent.

However, congestion within the zones had not decreased because water and gas mains replacement work, as well as building work, had greatly reduced the amount of space available on the roads. The re-phasing of traffic lights to help other road users had also had an impact.

TfL says that congestion in both the original and western charging zones is now back to pre-charging levels, but that it would be significantly worse without the traffic reductions brought about by the charge.

The Congestion Charge was first introduced on 17 February 2003 and extended westwards to cover most of the boroughs of Kensington and Chelsea and Westminster on 19 February 2007.

1 September 2008