Monday, April 15, 2013

Congestion and Cost

With the understanding that London is slated to increase to nine million people by 2020, or +13% from where it is now, efforts are being made to ensure that their transportation system will be both financially stable and suitably accessible to those in the future.

Also, noting London’s poor air quality, believed to be responsible for some 4,500 premature deaths a year, coupled with the feeling that cars are the ‘most inefficient use of road space’ London’s TfL has continued to try and kill two birds with one stone with the city cordon Congestion tax.

[image link broken] Area of Congestion Charge

The current operating budget relies equally on fares and government grants to function.

(The congestion charge only amounts to about 8 percent of the fares collected). Ironically, while the congestion tax has been effective in reducing traffic levels, while generating much needed revenue, it has not managed to reduce congestion to ‘pre-charging’ levels (the feeling is that they would be much worse if they were not in effect). The TfL explain this increase in congestion from, “Widespread water and gas main replacement works (greatly reducing road capacity) and traffic measures to help pedestrians and other road users”. Still the congestion tax is seen as in impactful way to reduce congestion, reduce emissions, and generate revenue for both operating costs of the current system as well as TfL system, project increases: such as Crossrail 2, the new east London river crossing.


Sources:

http://www.standard.co.uk/news/transport/transport-must-retain-funding-to-keep-london-world-class-says-report-8538922.html

http://onlinepubs.trb.org/onlinepubs/sr/sr303King.pdf

https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&pid=gmail&attid=0.1&thid=13e09f48c378442b&mt=application/msword&url=https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/?ui%3D2%26ik%3D57d01763ab%26view%3Datt%26th%3D13e09f48c378442b%26attid%3D0.1%26disp%3Dsafe%26realattid%3Df_hfilb15l0%26zw&sig=AHIEtbRup2UZgxDiyWKgP1O7UyexS8Ionw

http://www.tfl.gov.uk/assets/downloads/2012-13-budget-tfl-march2012.pdf

http://www.tfl.gov.uk/roadusers/congestioncharging/6723.aspx

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