Congestion Charge at 20 – TfL spells out the benefits
This month marks 20 years of London’s Congestion Charge, which its managing authority Transport for London says has enabled economic and sustainable growth in the capital, while delivering huge progress in tackling toxic air by targeting the most polluting vehicles.
TfL’s analysis shows that without the initiatives TfL has introduced to encourage more sustainable travel over the last couple of decades, of which the Congestion Charge was a critical first step, there would have been three million additional journeys by car across London in 2019.
This has helped ensure London's growth has been sustainable as high levels of traffic make deliveries less reliable, delay bus journeys, worsen air pollution, and make it less safe for people walking and cycling. Nearly £5bn was lost to congestion in 2019, a figure that would have been much higher with the three million additional car journeys that, in conjunction with wider transport interventions across London, the Congestion Charge helped avoid.
While the Congestion Charge has been tackling congestion, the growing scientific evidence on the impacts of toxic air pollution created an imperative to move quickly to cut harmful emissions, says TfL. The Congestion Charge played a key role in encouraging early take up of less polluting vehicles through greener vehicle discounts.
As the scientific evidence became clearer, the discount required progressively greener vehicles, but still around 4,000 Londoners die prematurely each year due to air pollution.
The Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ), was introduced in 2019 and expanded to inner London in 2021, and has seen harmful nitrogen dioxide (NO2) levels 46 per cent and 21 per cent lower in central and inner London respectively than they would have been without the scheme.
In August, the ULEZ will be expanded London-wide. It will, says TfL, be a significant boost for those in the outer boroughs, who suffer disproportionately from poor air quality and will have knock-on benefits to the air quality in the surrounding counties. The larger area will see 23,000 tonnes of CO2 saved in outer London, more than was achieved when the central zone came into operation, with a further reduction of 10 per cent in harmful nitrogen oxides emissions from cars in outer London.
Seb Dance, London’s Deputy Mayor for Transport, said, "The introduction of the Congestion Charge in 2003 - the first of its kind - sparked something of a quiet revolution in transforming the ways that Londoners get around the capital. The steep and immediate impact the charge had on both congestion and the environment paved the way for further transport innovation in London."
Christina Calderato, TfL's Director of Strategy and Policy, said, "The Congestion Charge was world leading when it was introduced 20 years ago and it has been essential in changing the way people travel in the capital. It has resulted in a significant shift away from people using private cars to more environmentally friendly forms of transport. It plays a vital role in supporting the capital's economy, making central London a more attractive place to visit and the roads run more efficiently. Without it, business and the capital's economy would suffer more from the costs of congestion.
"In recent years, we have taken action to tackle the public health crisis caused by the capital's toxic air and introduced in the ULEZ. It has been hugely successfully in cutting harmful emissions and helping Londoners breathe cleaner air. With those in outer London suffering disproportionately from the silent killer of pollution, we are expanding the zone to cover all of capital so they can enjoy the benefits of breathing cleaner air at the earliest possible opportunity."
Anneka Hendrick, Regional Director, CBI London, said: "With the Congestion Charge and the ULEZ, London has led the way in emissions reduction. It is encouraging to see that the congestion charge has also resulted in an increase in people moving towards more sustainable forms of travel, including walking, cycling and public transport, during the past two decades. Winning the race to net zero for the UK offers benefits to both businesses and society at large, and the congestion charge is playing a pivotal role in reducing emissions across the capital - improving air quality for millions."
James Cleeton, Sustrans London Director added, "The Congestion Charge was so much more than just a charging scheme - it has supported a positive vision of a healthier, happier city."
Money raised from the Congestion Charge, says TfL, has been “ploughed into helping Londoners get from A to B by more environmentally friendly ways, with increases in buses and reallocation of road space helping to make London a more liveable and efficient city.
“This has delivered better facilities for people walking and cycling, like protected cycle lanes, which has seen a growth of those talking to two wheels of 137 per cent since the start of the millennium. Sustainable travel choices are also more efficient ways of people getting to their destination, with a bus carrying up to 85 times more passengers than a car and bikes moving a greater number of people within the same space than those on four wheels.”
TfL is currently at an early stage in its thinking on how it could replace existing road user charging such as Congestion Charge and ULEZ, with a simple and fair London-wide scheme for customers. The technology to implement such a scheme in a complex city like London is still many years away but will be factored into TfL's long-term planning.
Meanwhile… a coalition of five outer London councils has launched a judicial review to challenge Transport for London (TfL) and the Mayor of London's decision to expand the Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) to outer London boroughs in August. The London boroughs of Bexley, Bromley, Harrow and Hillingdon and Surrey County Council will challenge the expansion in the High Court on five grounds:
Failure to comply with relevant statutory requirements
Unlawful failure to consider expected compliance rates in outer London
The proposed scrappage scheme was not consulted upon
Failure to carry out any cost benefit analysis
Inadequate consultation and/or apparent predetermination arising from the conduct of the consultation.
Cllr Ian Edwards, Leader of Hillingdon Council, said, "Our position has remained unchanged from when TfL's plans were first mooted - ULEZ is the wrong solution in outer London as it will have negligible or nil impact on air quality but will cause significant social and economic harm to our residents.”