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168 
Capital response after month one
Page 13
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41 A survey of business people in London indicates that there is strong support for congestion charging following its first month of operation.
Three-quarters of those questioned by business organisation London First said that congestion charging has worked. Only 3% of those questioned felt congestion charging has failed, while the remainder did not yet know either way.
Contrary to popular belief, the scheme's overall impact on business in the capital is positive. Only 5% of business actually based in London reported a negative impact on their business as a result of congestion charging. The majority, 65%, felt charging had no Impact on their business and 30% said the Impact of the scheme had been positive for their business. Some report that deliveries have been more efficient, although loading and unloading remains a problem and is still creating hold-ups during the day.
Interestingly, the survey found that 35% who registered fleet vehicles stated they had a negative experience—presumably because of the cost. Julia Lalla-Maharajh, director of London First, says: "All the signs are that this scheme has got off to an excellent start in what are still the early days. The mixed reaction to the registration process is to be expected with any new scheme of this scale. The technology is constantly being reviewed and improved and we hope when we undertake our next survey we will see a marked improvement on this front."
• Ray Dickson, MD Of Croydonbased F Dickson Transport says that congestion charging has been "an absolute fiasco"; it took weeks for
the company to register its vehicle and then it discovered the dire debit was not in place.
He adds: "I have now found o that TfL cancelled our payment sy tem for a day, so we were breakir the rules without realising it. I u therefore have fines to contest. I a currently paying the fee by crec card until our fleet scheme is ru ning again."