The secret of success

London's congestion charge scheme was introduced in 2003 by the then mayor, Ken Livingstone, to tackle the city's traffic congestion problems and reduce journey times. At the time London suffered some of the worst traffic congestions in Europe, causing the capital to lose between two and four million pounds every week in lost time.

Now, according to Derrick Morris of Transport for London (TfL), thanks to congestion charging and a low emissions zone, traffic entering the original charging zone is still 21 per cent lower than pre-charge levels, which equates to 70,000 fewer cars a day, and there has been a six per cent increase in bus passengers during charging hours.

He says the key ingredients to getting such a scheme going are clear objectives, a public will to get something done and a political will to tackle the issue head on.

Credible
The policies behind the scheme were not plucked from the thin, polluted air, says Derrick. Before the scheme was proposed, comprehensive research was commissioned on modelling traffic flows, the impacts on air quality, travel demands and a range of other factors that could influence its success.

“The policies were developed based on the findings of the research. This ensured the scheme was credible with the public, and could deliver the promised benefits,” he adds.

Because its aim was to cut the number of people using private vehicles within the charging zone, TfL first had to be sure that there were adequate public transport alternatives. Sure enough, TfL’s modelling showed the London Underground and existing bus networks had the capacity to cope with the additional passengers.

“We realised that the public would not support a scheme which promised improvements to public transport at some time in the future, but which they had to pay for today,” Derrick says.

This view is borne out by the experience in Manchester in 2008, where a peak time congestion charge which would fund future improvements to the public transport system was rejected by more than two-thirds of voters.

Penalties
With the congestion charge in place, the next step was the low emissions zone. This was designed to improve air quality by financially penalising the most polluting diesel-engined lorries, buses, coaches, mini buses and large vans on the city's roads.

Before it was implemented, TfL liaised with the relevant vehicles licensing authorities to ensure they could cope with the increased demand for emissions testing and certificates.

Get the message out
Derrick says a large public information campaign was also vital to both schemes’ success, as public opinion can make or break such a proposal.

Workshops were organised and discussions were held with all the affected London boroughs. Businesses, residents and trade associations were contacted to canvas views and to ensure the public understood what actions they would have to take to comply with either scheme.

“People need to know how things work, we don’t want them being penalised because they don’t understand. We needed to get the message out that it's not about raising money, but changing driver behaviour,” he explains.

Long term
In the short term at least, a reduction of more than a fifth in the number of cars on the roads certainly suggests driver behaviour has changed. But, particularly with the generally pro-car Conservative Party looking set to win the next election, whether it is a long-term change or a temporary response to a temporary situation is hard to call.