Doesn’t this show how much the transport system has progressed over the years?
The charge began on the 17th of February 2003. You have all heard of D-day, and so this picked up the name of C-day. Each motorist will be charged £5 a day to drive into central London. The hope was that this charge would reduce the traffic of London by up to 15% and reduce delays by 20% - 30%.
But I feel that the £200 million spent on the scheme was wasted. This money could have been spent much more effectively on health and education. People sit there, grid locked everyday and all that the Congestion Charge is doing is pushing the problem out of central London and into the surrounding areas. It was predicted that up to 4km of traffic would encircle the boundary for up to 6 hours when the charge was introduced. If the government really want to reduce the congestion, then maybe they should raise the charge to £15 or maybe even £20. At least this would make people stop and think twice.
The cameras are not thought to be good enough for the job. Also it is thought that the database does not pick up 10% - 15% of car’s number plates. Many people are already finding ways to avoid paying like buying motorcycles, which are excluded from the charge.
This whole concept is to encourage people to use public transport more. The central line was closed around the time the charge was introduced, and it was thought the starting date might be delayed.
Buses, tubes and trains are in poor condition, can’t keep to the timetables and can’t cope with the number of passengers anyway. London is said to have the worst public transport system in Europe.
Also it is believed that the charge is threatening businesses and cost them up to £4 million a week. Are the government prepared for these loses, the backlashes of the companies, and has it all really been thought through. I think not.
It seems that people are being penalised for where they work. Take an example of a schoolteacher; not the highest paid job in the world. They are expected to pay the charge without fail or face dragging bags of pupils’ books onto the crowded London buses. Not the ideal situation.
This has caused uproar from people as there is way that this could happen. The disruption was met unfavourably by many.
But it was said that the charge would produce an income of £130 million per year and all this will be fed back into the system. Other schemes are in place in Toronto and Singapore, but does this necessarily mean that London can pull it off as well?
I feel that action should be taken, but a lot more planning and looking at the consequences should be taken into account.
Other options could be to restrict the amount of cars entering the zone or as I said before raise the charge to maybe £15. Also some of the raise money should be put into the health and education systems.
Although traffic levels and congestion in Central London have decreased even more than predicted, many groups are still unhappy. The shopkeepers are upset because they have lost trade, and even the people running the scheme are not entirely happy because the amount of money they expected to raise from the charge is less than they expected.
