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London zone set to double
Page 14
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London mayor Ken Livingstone wants to double the geographic area liable to congestion charging. Industry leaders are appalled. Guy Sheppard reports.
HAULAGE LEADERS are warning that plans to more than double London's road charging zone pose a huge economic risk.
Mayor Ken Livingstone says extending the 18-month-old zone is "the next logical stepnow most people support the existing scheme. But the Road Haulage and Freight Transport Associations warn that the economic impact of the existing zone is still unclear.
They want Livingstone to reconsider exempting CVs from the £5-a-day charge, saying many operators are unable to pass on the cost to customers.
SarahWatkins,FTA policy manager for the region, says costs for operators delivering to shops and businesses in central London have risen by around £2m-a-year. "Doubling the size of the zone could exponentially increase this figure," she adds. "No clear judgement of the economic benefits have been made to date by Transport for London or any other body. Extension of the congestion charging zone is a huge economic risk for the city as a whole."
An FTA survey of members shows that reducing traffic in the zone has been of little benefit—twothirds of members say journeys are no quicker. Only one in 10 say they can make more deliveries.
Parcel firm DHL agrees it is still too early to make an informed decision about extending the zone. But Sanjay Shah, MD of Planet Couriers based in Wembley, reports that the zone has made its deliveries easier. "We don't want to increase customer's costs unnecessarily but they are happy that deliveries are being done on time rather than arriving late because of traffic." he says.
Livingstone says more research is needed about extending the zone to the north and west built would roughly be bounded by Harrow Road, Scrubs Lane, West Cross Route, Earls Court One Way System and Chelsea Embankment.