London may tweek congestion charges

[Cotuit]

Road toll 'shelved for Christmas'

Plans to suspend London's congestion charge between Christmas and New Year, have been announced by the mayor.

A consultation exercise has begun on whether the

[Spartan]

I have mixed feelings about that congestion charge. I agree that it is a creative way to reduce congestion, plus- London is the most congested palce I've ever been to. But I also think it is a cheap way to make money, and its just bad for a government to restrict its citizens like that. What is worse is that they are considering an expansion of the congestion area.

The tan area is the current congestion charge zone, and the orange is the proposed extention.

[Guest donaltopablo]

If it's a true "congestion" charge, I can't see them fairly raising the price on SUVs without raising it on cars. Although depending on the size of the car and the SUV, you could make the argument that at twice the size the SUV deserves it. However, I think realistically, if your goal is really to cut down on driving during peak hours, it's just wrong to charge double for SUVs.

Of course, if this was an enviornmental charge, road recovery fee, or weight based tax, then I can see an upcharge for SUVs. But since the law is billed as a congestion fee, I don't think that would be right. And I generally dislike the majority of SUVs that are on the road.

[Spartan]

Also, in London there aren't very many SUVs. people over there drive cars, and on top of that, alot are compact cars. Also, gas is like 83p per Liter; diesel is 82p, but you get more per mile... this comes out to around $7 a gallon, so SUV's are much more expensive to have.

[Cotuit]

... this comes out to around $7 a gallon, so SUV's are much more expensive to have.

I think that is the point. The people who can most afford to ignore the congestion charge and continue driving in central London are the wealthy. And the wealthy can afford SUVs. It's telling people that if they're going to drive into the central city, at least drive a vehicle that's sensible for the environment (the built environment I mean, not the air and trees and such).

Perhaps they could divert the SUV surcharge to environmental agencies, or use it to fund clean fuel research or something.

New York continues to toy with the idea of charging to enter Manhattan. It hasn't quite been proposed on the same model as London's. You could still enter Manhattan freely via the Bronx crossings, but there is a move to toll the East River bridges, and the toll would probably, if implemented, include some sort of peek hour pricing.

[Spartan]

I think that would result in a regular clogging up of the Bronx's crossings. But I don't think of New York as being as congested as London.

[Cotuit]

I think that would result in a regular clogging up of the Bronx's crossings.

Not really, people can't get to the Bronx from Queens and Brooklyn for free, so there's not really any reason that they would go there rather than paying to cross the East River directly. People from the north and New England can get into the Bronx for free, but it's easier to pay to use the expressway crossings that exist now.