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London's costly congestion charge
18/01/2003 13:08 - (SA)
London - A controversial scheme beginning next month to charge motorists for entering central London will come at a heavy price for drivers, and could also prove costly for London mayor Ken Livingstone, whose future may well be riding on the scheme he has pushed through.
From Febuary 17, motorists entering the city centre between 7:00 am and 6:30 pm, Monday to Friday, will have to pay a tax of five pounds (R70) - a move aimed at cutting traffic and pollution.
Mayor Livingstone, the man behind the scheme, says the charge will reduce traffic congestion in London's city centre by 15 percent and cut journey times by 30 percent. Currently some 250 000 motorists drive into the city centre on weekdays.
Not popular with motorists
Hailed by green groups, the project has unsurprisingly not gone down so well with motorists.
According to a recent survey, a third of London's drivers say they will try to bypass the law and not pay the tax, while 55 percent believe the scheme will do nothing to reduce traffic congestion during rush hours.
Residents living just outside the targeted zone have taken legal action in a bid to have the plan scrapped but their case was dismissed at the first hurdle.
Costly scheme
One of Britain's largest public sector unions, Unison, has asked Livingstone to delay the project and to exempt public sector workers, including teachers and health staff, from paying the tax.
Unison fears mass resignations among key workers, saying the scheme will cost each driver 1 200 pounds (R16 800) a year.
Livingstone is banking on the scheme's success to help him win re-election in mayor polls next year. Major world cities such as New York, Paris and Berlin, are likely to take a keen interest in his project and could introduce their own congestion schemes if the plan proves successful.
Norway is already considering tax breaks for employees who cycle to work rather than using their cars.
Big Brother watching your car
Under the London plan, motorists will have to pay for entering an area of around eight square miles (20 square kilometres). Some 230 cameras will be installed to photograph car licence plates, which will then be checked with a database to see if the daily fee has been paid.
According to a survey of more than 500 engineers, 43 percent believe the technology used to scan the vehicles is unreliable. The mayor's office says the technology is achieving a 90 percent success rate in tests.
Poor hit hardest
British actress Samantha Bond, who played Miss Moneypenny in the last four James Bond films, is leading a group opposed to the project.
She said: "For someone on 15 000 pounds-a-year (like many public sector workers), it's 11 per cent of your earnings. I think there is a terrifying scenario of a two-tier transport system with all the rich people sitting in their cars and all the poor people struggling in on the Tube (London's underground railway)."
Motorists Against Detection (MAD), an activist group vehemently opposed to the congestion charge, has pledged to smash the detection cameras. Its members have already been involved in vandalising numerous speed cameras across the country.
"We are all guinea pigs in a huge experiment that will restrict our liberty, not just in London but in the whole UK. Don't forget it's all about money," an MAD spokesman told AFP.
Short of smashing cameras, the best way for drivers to avoid paying the tax is to register their vehicles abroad. The mayor's office has powers to fine overseas drivers but may find the cost of pursuing legal action unworthwhile.
Buses, taxis and emergency vehicles are exempt from the charge. - Sapa-AFP
- SAPA
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