On Fri, 23 Feb 2007 18:58:57 +0000, Dave A wrote:

It's not exactly a "toll them all" mentality, either. There are a number
of ways to get around the charge with private transport, including the
obvious bike, plus scooters, motorbikes, electric/low-emission vehicles etc.
Would you place bets on how many of these would remain uncharged?
Especially if there is enough movement towards low-CO2 cars? And as
the scheme was sold as anti "congestion", is it ok to jump on an
emissions bandwagon? It's not exactly a clear message or bedded-down
policy (apart from the revenue side).

They are demanding a
very limited resource (road space); the only ways to allocate it are by
queuing or charging. Both of those options are going to be unfair on
someone, but where time is very important, the sensible option is to go
for charging.

I've lived in an area with a permit scheme, no hi-tech cameras. Same
area was severely anti-rat run which I can see the CC zone as being as
well. It doesn't take much to pinch traffic into "primary routes" -
Delft's car barriers are v. good at that. London for me was always a
shock of rat runs, people taking tiny roads to gain little advantage,
and causing knock-on effects. And the delivery van situation is
appalling - vans in bus lanes because of poor planning. Even the
regular police horse boxes in rush-hour Hammersmith are an example of
bad policy that goes on and on.

As for the issue of driving out of the zone, it's unfortunately all too
familiar to some. However, TfL are certainly working on ways to address
issues like that, through the use of smarter tag-and-beacon or
satellite-positioning technology. It may not be long before you are
offered the option to install a tag in your car in order to benefit from
lower charges (as it will then be able to tell that you use the less
congested roads/directions).

I chose jobs and mode of transport to minimise travel time or at least
make it better (bus over Central Line when OxCirc is stuffed!). But I
feel the population is jaded with "stealth taxes" and tired of the
current bunch of politicos so it'll be a hard sell for road pricing -
and if you end up in a jam you have to pay for, the political
repercussions would be interesting. Once again there is an unseeming
rush to go hi-tech and early-adopt where other measures should be
tried. For one, I'd like to see proper cycle lanes and not silly
painted lines.
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