Congested thinking
Page 8
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The decision to introduce congestion charging in London (see page 1o) was, in many ways, inevitable. Certainly, it's worth trying anything tc reduce the volume of traffic entering London each day. But why on earth have hauliers not been exempted?
Hauliers don't choose to drive lorries rather than smaller vehicles— they have to. And they don't choose tc drive their vehicles into city centres, either. Unlike passenger car occupants, who can often use alternative transport, hauliers have no choice in the matter if the demands of a large capital are to be met. Perhaps Ken doesn't realise this.
Perhaps, too, he is unaware that while there are fewer than half a million heavy lorries on Britain's roads, there are well over 22t/1 cars. It's pretty obvious who's causing the congestion, and it isn't the hauliers.
Even if congestion charging reduces traffic levels as expected, estimated growth in Britain's overall traffic will probably wipe out any tangible benefits. And we can only guess at the knock-on effects to areas around the exclusion zone. How ironic if Ken's grand plan simply had the effect of forcing those travelling from one side of London to the other to drive more vehicle miles, burn more fuel and pump out more emissions to avoid the chargeable zone. Hardly the environmental boon it was touted as, is it?
Perhaps Ken is simply targeting hauliers as an easy revenue stream. Perhaps he really doesn't understand their crucial importance. Whatever the case, the fight for exemption must go on because other cities around Britain will be watching closely to see how this plan fares and how soon they, too, can introduce such schemes.