Road user charging

The Central London Congestion Charging scheme

Summary

Since 17 February 2003 drivers entering or driving within a cordon around the central area of London have incurred a charge. The Central London Congestion Charging scheme is the first major UK initiative to use cordon charging to reduce traffic congestion in an urban area. A very small cordon charging scheme in Durham has produced a 90% drop in traffic since its introduction in October 2002.

The Central London scheme is an important initiative that fulfils a remit in the government's 10-Year Transport Plan to introduce schemes to reduce congestion and to fund public transport alternatives. The scheme is a significant milestone in the development of effective, sustainable measures for reducing traffic congestion. The success of the scheme and the experience gathered from its operation is informing the debate about congestion charging solutions for other parts of the UK and across the world.

Why a charging scheme was needed

• Every weekday morning in Central London too many vehicles were trying to use too few roads
• There is no possibility of building more roads in the centre of London
• Drivers spent up to 50% of their time crawling in jammed traffic
• Congestion in London was costing business about £2 million a week
• Static and slow traffic generates more air pollution and produces more carbon dioxide, the greenhouse gas. This has resulted in a general loss of amenity for Londoners in terms of quality of life on the streets
• No one would deny that congestion in London was causing frustration and raising stress levels

Aims of the charging scheme

• Reduce traffic where it is most congested by between 10-15% year-round, ie to school summer-holiday levels
• Reduce delays by 20-30%
• Shorten journey times
• Make delivery times more reliable
• Save 2-3 million hours of journey time annually inside the zone and a further 4-7 million hours in the area between the zone and the North and South Circular roads
• Raise £1.3 billion over the first 10 years for re-investment in all forms of transport in London, including roads, buses, local streets and railways
• Increase public transport use in the central area by 1-2%
• Pay for itself within 18 months of starting

Results so far

• Congestion inside the charging zone reduced by 30%.
• Traffic levels reduced by 18%.
• 30% reduction in number of cars and 65,000 fewer car movements.
• 20% increase in movements by buses coaches and taxis.
• Increase of 29,000 bus passengers entering zone during morning peak.
• Bus reliability and journey times improved - additional time passengers wait at bus stops caused by service delays or missing buses improved by 20% across all of London and by 30% in and around charging zone.
• Bus routes serving charging zone experience 60% less disruption due to traffic delay.

TfL estimate that the effects of the new £8 daily charge in place since July 2005 (previously £5) will be:

• Additional 3-5% decline in number of vehicle movements coming into the charging zone during charging hours.
• Most of the decline would be in movements by cars, with small decline in movements by commercial vehicles and probably small increase in movements by buses and taxis.
• Net effect on circulating traffic is to enhance the reduction in the level of circulating traffic, from 15% as experienced following the £5.00 charge to 17% to 21%.
• Across Inner London, traffic and congestion levels would reduce further. With congestion cut by an additional 1% to 3%.

Charging zone

Charges are made on vehicles entering an area bounded by an Inner Ring Road that runs along Euston Road, Pentonville Road, Commercial Street, Tower Bridge Road, New Kent Road, Kennington Lane, Elephant & Castle, Vauxhall Bridge Road, Park Lane, Edgware Road and Marylebone Road. (See plan below.)

No charge is made for driving on the Inner Ring Road itself - only the area bounded by it.

The zone will be extended westwards in February 2007 (see 'Next Steps' below for details.)

Charging times

Charges are made between 7am and 6.30pm, Monday to Friday - excluding Public Holidays and the first 3 charging days (whether or not they are consecutive days of the week) that follow 26 December.

Charging costs

The charge is £8 a day for which vehicles can enter and leave the zone any number times on the same day.

Paying the Congestion Charge

When to pay:
You can pay the £8 congestion charge either in advance or on the day of travel. A higher charge of £10 is payable if you pay the following day up until midnight. If you do not pay by midnight on the following day after you have travelled in the zone, a Penalty Charge Notice of £100 is sent to the registered keeper of the vehicle. As with parking penalties, this is reduced to £50 if you pay within 14 days.

How long to pay for:
You can pay up to 90 days in advance. The standard charge is £25 a week (five consecutive charging days), £100 a month (20 consecutive charging days) or £1260 for a year (252 consecutive charging days).

Residents within the charging zone, who have registered for the residents' discount, can pay £2.50 a week, £10 a month or £126 for a year.

If you drive within the charging zone before receiving written confirmation of a payment, you must pay the £5 daily charge or incur a penalty charge.

How to pay:
You can pay the congestion charge in the following ways:

• Online: using credit card or debit card via the Transport for London website www.cclondon.com.

• By telephone: pay by credit or debit card via the 24-hour Transport for London call centre on 0845 900 1234.

• In person: at any Pay Point displaying the congestion charge logo. There are about 200 Pay Points within the charging zone and 1220 within the M25, as well as at many petrol stations and shops. Payment can be made by cash, credit card, debit card or cheque. You can also pay at self-service machines at some car parks inside the charging zone, and at other selected locations.

• By post: only for weekly, monthly or yearly payments - by sending the completed form, "Paying the Congestion Charge" (download from www.cclondon.com or by phoning 0845 900 1234) with payment by cheque or postal order to: Congestion Charging, PO Box 2982, Coventry, CV7 8WR.

• Mobile phone text message: by registering for the SMS service at www.cclondon.com or by calling 0845 900 1234. You can then pay the charge on the day of your travel.

• BT Internet Kiosks: can pay with selected credit and debit cards, 24 hours a day, at all street level BT Internet kiosks within the charging zone.

• More information: visit www.cclondon.com or call 0845 900 1234

Exemptions & discounts

A discount of 90% is available to residents living in the zone.

Vehicles on the 'automated fleet' scheme receive a discount of £1 resulting in a daily charge of £7 per charging day.

A discount is given for Monthly and Annual Congestion Charges.

There is complete exemption for:

• Vehicles driven by or being used to carry disabled persons with a Blue Badge.
• Vehicles used by certain NHS staff on journeys carrying bulky, heavy or fragile equipment, confidential patient notes, controlled drugs etc; and for NHS staff on-call for services in an emergency.
• Vehicles used by certain NHS patients attending hospital appointments; patients who have compromised immune systems; patients requiring regular therapy or assessment or recurrent surgical intervention; and where the patient is clinically assessed as too ill, weak or disabled to travel to an appointment on public transport.
• Vehicles used by firefighters for operational journeys between fire stations.
• Motorbikes and mopeds.
• Hackney carriages (black cabs).
• London licensed mini-cabs whose operator, driver and vehicle are all licensed.
• Emergency service vehicles.
• NHS vehicles that are exempt from vehicle excise duty.
• Vehicles used by disabled persons that are exempt from vehicle excise duty.
• Disabled passenger carrying vehicles that are exempt from vehicle excise duty (eg Dial-a-Ride vehicles).
• Buses and coaches with nine or more seats that are licensed in the 'bus class' with the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA).
• Vehicles with nine or more seats that are not covered by the exemption above, eg community minibuses.
• Emergency Vehicles used by fire, police and ambulance services.
• Certain operational vehicles used by the eight local authorities within or partly within the charging zone, and the Royal Parks Agency.
• Vehicles used for lifeboat haulage and by HM Coastguard, and Port of London Authority vehicles in use attending emergencies on the River Thames.
• Military vehicles used by the armed forces.
• The cleanest alternative fuel vehicles (band 4 as defined by the Powershift Register, www.powershift.org.uk).
• Electrically propelled vehicles.
• Specially adapted recovery vehicles (eg those used by motoring organisations for breakdown removals).
• Breakdown vehicles in use to provide roadside assistance or recovery services operated by independently accredited organisations (eg AA, RAC, Green Flag).

How the camera technology works

• A network of cameras is sited on the boundary and throughout the zone. They cover all entry points to the charging zone, except cul-de-sacs
• CCTV cameras, similar to those used for ports, airports and the City of London's security 'ring of steel', provide high quality video-stream (analogue) signals to an automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) computer system
• Every single lane of traffic is monitored at exit and entry points
• Tests show that there is an estimated 'capture' rate of 90% within the charging zone
• There are two types of camera in operation, colour and mono. The colour camera is used to show a vehicle in the context of its surroundings: the mono camera is used specifically for reading number plates
• Both cameras operate using a chip, a charged couple device (CCD), and X-wave technology, which enables the cameras to see far better in limited light conditions
• The system for capturing and processing this information combines the best and most reliable technology available, chosen specifically to match the needs of this particular scheme
• All captured images are streamed back in analogue to the ANPR system which produces a data block showing the exact time and date that the images were taken. Images from the colour camera and the mono camera, as well as the information from the ANPR reader are then stored as back-up in case the information needs to be compared
• All images are then automatically matched against a database of those people who have registered to pay. The details of those who have done so are discarded
• For those who have not paid the charge, all images are sent to the WORM drive ('write once read many'). Each image is encrypted and digitally signed at the first point of capture to prevent any modification to the original image. This is to ensure a complete evidence trail in the event of any disputed penalty charges
• Images of number plates, belonging to those who have not paid to register by midnight on the same day are manually checked against DVLA databases for a penalty notice to be issued

Enforcement

• A civil penalty system, like that for de-criminalised parking, operates
• Unpaid penalties are pursued through civil courts, with ultimate recourse to bailiffs if no payment is made
• Attempts to tamper with number plates or vandalise/deface signs or camera equipment are criminal offences
• A tamper-proof record of images is kept until penalties are paid, or the case closed. Transport for London (TfL) has powers to clamp or remove persistent evaders anywhere in Greater London - not just within the charging zone
• Foreign vehicles are also monitored and checks made through links between TfL and similar agencies in other countries
• Drivers of hired vehicles will be liable to pay and hire companies will be entitled to pass on driver details
• CCTV monitoring is fully compliant with the Data Protection Act. Only in circumstances where number plates do not match database records, will images be retained for enforcement purposes

Next steps

• The Mayor of London, Ken Livingstone has approved plans to extend the central London Congestion Charging zone westward, to cover most of Kensington & Chelsea and Westminster.
• The extended zone will become operational on 19 February 2007.
• The extension provides the opportunity for the traffic reduction benefits of congestion charging to be spread more widely and include other parts of central London which are experiencing high levels of congestion throughout the working day. These benefits include lower congestion and traffic emissions, and significant improvements to bus reliability.
• The map (below) shows the new enlarged congestion charging scheme. It is proposed that the western extension be broadly bounded by Harrow Road, Scrubs Lane, West Cross Route, the Earls Court one-way system and Chelsea Embankment.
• The charging hours will 7am and 6.00pm, Monday to Friday and the same exemptions and discounts for residents living within the charging zone will apply.

• Proposed extension to Charging zone map (Adobe Acrobat - 267kb)

London Congestion Charging: www.tfl.gov.uk/roadusers/congestioncharging/

Transport for London: www.tfl.gov.uk

Western Extension: www.london.gov.uk/mayor/congest/western-extension.jsp

London Assembly: www.london.gov.uk/londonissues/transport.jsp