London Congestion Charge

Here is an interesting article about how London is dealing with heavy traffic in the city center and with air pollution at the same time.

Originally, London charged a flat rate of #8 (about $12) for any vehicle traveling into a certain zone of the city. The revenue was then put into the city's mass transit funding. This had good results, so they updated it further.

Residents of the congestion zone were unhappy, so residents of the area got up to 90% off of this charge. However, more gas-guzzling vehicles had to start paying up to #25 (roughly $35-$40) every time they entered the congestion zone. Heavy vehicles also tend accelerate slower than lighter vehicles, so this would also reduce overall congestion.

The goal of this plan is to reduce air pollution and traffic congestion as well as improve public transit for the entire city. The cost burden to go through the center of the city, or the time/gas burden to go around it, may encourage Londoners to use the bus or the Tube.

The article is below:

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/02/12/red_ken_green_tax/

A blogger on boston.com said that New York has considered a similar plan, and that Boston should consider it (based on the high demand for parking), but they should probably wait for New York to implement it first.

The boston.com blog post is here (you may need to sign in):

http://www.boston.com/community/blogs/this_land/2011/03/paying_the_right_price_for_par.html?p1=Features_link5