Keep on the Left !

Driving in Great Britain

 Some Thoughts after 5,363 Miles of Driving on the Left

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London Congestion Charge logoDrive past the 'Big C' on London's streets and you own Ken a fiver.

What's a 'Big C'?  Who's 'Ken'?  What's a 'fiver'?  I'm glad you asked.

Here is another reason not to drive in London...  Driving in London is more expensive as of 17 February 2003.  That is when the Mayor of London, Ken Livingstone - a man who has never learnt ['learned'] to drive a car - began collecting a 'Congestion Charge' of Five Pounds (£5) per day payable for all cars travelling in an eight square-mile London tolling zone between 7am and 6.30pm.  Tourists hiring ['renting'] cars will not be exempt.  Tourists visiting only for the day will likely find that paying the toll in shops, car parks and petrol ['gas'] stations (displaying the 'Big C') will be the easiest method of compliance.  Fail to pay and you could find £40 or more in late payment penalties added to your bill when you return the car.  Tourists would be well advised to take a taxi, take a bus or take the Tube ['subway'] and be sure to allow more time for the journey!  Note that traffic congestion will be maximised around the perimetre of the zone as those with local knowledge avoid the charge by driving around the edges where traffic will likely become even more congested and subject to gridlock.

Can Edinburgh be far behind?

As of August 2002 the British press reported that the cites of Durham, Edinburgh and Nottingham were actively planning their own 'Congestion Charge' scheme.  Since then Durham instituted the toll.

Daft thinking proliferates....  Other cities are reported to be following these developments with great interest so as to implementing their own 'Congestion Charge' revenue-enhancement bonanza.  These cities are Bath, Birmingham, Bristol, Cambridge, Cardiff, Chester, Glasgow, Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester, Milton Keynes, Newcastle, Oxford, Reading, Sheffield and York.

We can only hope that car hire ['rental'] firms will provide tourists with details of each city's scheme and the method of compliance.

Not that you asked but in my opinion...  "The stated purpose of Ken (a man who has never learnt to drive a car) Livingstone's Congestion Charging plan is to reduce traffic congestion in the city centre ['downtown London'] by 15pc ['%'].  But how is it that traffic in London got so congested in the first place?  Based on newspaper accounts and putting the pieces together....  Automobile traffic in London had already decreased by over twenty-five percent in the past decade!  Enter Ken Livingston, the new Mayor of London.  The timing of the traffic lights are fiddled-with so as to decrease overall traffic flow.  Now add to that the effect of  increasing the 'bus only' lanes to a total of 42 miles in London.  As an example, if the average street has three lanes and one lane is prohibited to cars, then congestion will increase by 50pc from that source alone!  Cut two lanes to one and congestion doubles, an increase of 100pc.  Just-for-fun let's block off lanes and entire streets with endless public works projects.  The mischief having been done, ...surprise, surprise... congestion has increased to the point where 'something' has to be done!  ...And that 'something' is a not-so-stealthy tax on motorists which is a thinly veiled transfer-of-wealth to hire enforcement personnel in London and a reported eight hundred telephone clerks (It's all about jobs?) at the Congestion Charging call centre in Coventry and buy TfL more buses with which to fill-up those 42 miles of new 'bus only' lanes.  And what if the plan fails to reduce congestion by 15pc?  Why of course!  Increase the daily toll.  And what if the plan causes massive congestion and gridlock on the roads that ring the charging zone?  Why of course!  Extend this draconian scheme to include even more of London's boroughs and create layers of increasing tolls the closer one drives into The City.  And what if the plan fails to generate enough revenue to cover the massive costs?  Why of course!  Increase the toll AND add more boroughs to the charging zone!  And, those traffic lights?  The British press has reported that the timing was again fiddled-with.  This time to improve traffic flows.  Public works projects?  Close them down and clear them out.  See?  It works!  The charging scheme results in less congestion!"  ...but then I'm only a Colonist.  What do I know.

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Last modified: Thursday, 27 October 2005.

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