The Hindu : Congestion tax leaves Londoners in a jam

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Feb 17, 2003

International

International

Congestion tax leaves Londoners in a jam

By Hasan Suroor

LONDON, FEB. 16. The day Londoners had been dreading is, finally, here, and they are furious.

From tomorrow, driving into Central London would never be the same again. No more free rides to Oxford Street to check out the latest Marks and Spencer collection, or to the West End for a quick matinee.

Even driving to work or dropping your kid to school is going to be more expensive, thanks to a £5 congestion charge which comes into force from tomorrow, already dubbed the "bloody Monday''.

The charge would apply to an eight-square mile zone comprising the capital's busiest and most popular haunts such as Piccadilly Circus, Trafalgar Square, Strand, Marble Arch, Oxford Street and Hyde Park corner.

The "congestion zone'' is the hub of London's commercial activity and has some of the best shopping centres, theatres, hotels, bars and restaurants with on an average some 200,000 people driving in and out of the area every day.

The levy is the brainwave of London's maverick mayor, Ken Livingstone, who believes that this would deter people from using cars — bicycles and scooters are exempt — and reduce congestion in an area where traffic at peak hours comes to a crawl.

The money raised from what has been derisively nicknamed the "Ken-gestion charge'' would be spent on improving public transport and infrastructure, but the move has provoked widespread anger especially from low-wage earners who work in the congestion zone or have to drive into it to make deliveries to offices, shops and other establishments.

They see it as a stealth tax which would eat into their already small earnings. A group of people, including hospital workers and theatre staff, have already challenged the levy in court, and there have been calls from consumer organisations for a boycott.

Newspapers have been flooded with hate mail with one commuter in an e-mail to a paper calling him "pea-brained'' and `unfit' for office. He has been attacked for spending some £12 millions on publicising a scheme which, many fear and hope, would not work. Another £1.2 million have been spent on setting up a state-of-the-art control room to catch those who try to evade the new charge.

The run-up has been marred by glitches and all of London is breathlessly waiting to see how the `C-Day' goes.

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