Ken Livingston is showing dramatically how to challenge city congestion and expand public transit. Hopefully, with London, Paris and Berlin all moving under progressive mayors, we will see a new progressive urban movement that activists in the US can highlight over here as well.
Nathan Newman nathan at newman.org http://www.nathannewman.org
====== July 10, 2001 London Drivers to Pay $7 Toll By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
LONDON (AP) -- Drivers will have to pay $7 a day to bring their cars into congested central London as part of a plan aimed at reducing weekday traffic by 15 percent in the British capital.
The fee, announced Tuesday, goes into effect in January 2003. Mayor Ken Livingstone, who has made the toll a priority, said the $282 million it is expected to bring in annually will be used to improve the city's ailing public transportation system.
Car owners will have to submit their vehicle registration numbers to London's transit agency and pay the fee by phone, by mail, over the Internet or at designated shops.
A network of cameras will be used to check license plates to make sure that those driving between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. Monday through Friday have paid. Violators could be ticketed as much as $112.
Livingstone said London's worsening traffic had become a drag on its economy.
``It would be negligent not to proceed rapidly,'' he said. ``Continuing doing business every day in London is a nightmare.''
Motorcycles, taxis, buses, emergency vehicles, mail trucks and cars owned by disabled people will be exempt from the charge. Central London residents who own cars will get a 90 percent discount.
Livingstone promised to use proceeds from the so-called ``congestion charge'' to add more buses and improve the subway system.
Peter Fitch, a Livingstone spokesman, said the plan will benefit those who pay the fee because they'll be able to get around the city better.
``Everyone agrees that congestion is killing our city,'' Fitch said. ``Something's got to be done. This seems to be the best option that we have.''
Not everyone is so convinced.
``We are concerned in London because the Tube system is at bursting point, the rail network is full and the buses are unreliable,'' said Edmund King, executive director of the RAC Foundation, a motorists' group. ``We do not believe that you should charge people out of their cars until alternatives are in place first.''
Singapore and several Norwegian cities have similar charges for city-center drivers, but Fitch said London would be the largest city in the world to implement such a fee. Other British cities and counties, including Manchester, Nottingham, Cambridgeshire, Derby, Durham and Birmingham are considering congestion charges.
Livingstone has been battling Prime Minister Tony Blair's government over its proposal to partly privatize the London Underground, which is the world's oldest subway system and is frequently overcrowded and plagued by breakdowns. The mayor wants to keep the system under public control.
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