flatpopely
Prog Rock/Moderator
I think this will hit those with the least to spend on a car, the very people the Mayor says he wants to help.
Money making exercise IMHO.
Money making exercise IMHO.
driving charges in London
- Thread starter graystoke4
- Start date
Brown Bottle
UTB
I drive into the West End early every morning. Switched from diesel to petrol car in Nov 17 when I saw this coming. I tend to drive out again by 08.00/09.00 most days and drop the car at my office in South East London. Get the tube back in for meetings.
We run 2 vans for maintenance work which we had to update ready for the new emissions rules.
I do worry about the amount of shite I breathe in whilst I’m out and about. I cough up green phlegm every morning which only clears on the annual 2 week family holiday.
Cheers BB
We run 2 vans for maintenance work which we had to update ready for the new emissions rules.
I do worry about the amount of shite I breathe in whilst I’m out and about. I cough up green phlegm every morning which only clears on the annual 2 week family holiday.
Cheers BB
andrew d
pfm Member
JensenHealey
pfm Member
If you are going in occasionally for business then the charge becomes a business expense and you choose how to pass it on or absorb it.
Why on earth do those with least to spend on a car need to drive into the congested city of London. There are plenty of other transport options. There are opt outs for dirty taxis and other opt outs for disabled. And another time limited optout for those who live on the zone. Those with least to spend on a car can afford the parking in central London in office hours? I don't think so.
If they are a tradesman with a battered old van then they will have to charge their clients the extra.
Why on earth do those with least to spend on a car need to drive into the congested city of London. There are plenty of other transport options. There are opt outs for dirty taxis and other opt outs for disabled. And another time limited optout for those who live on the zone. Those with least to spend on a car can afford the parking in central London in office hours? I don't think so.
If they are a tradesman with a battered old van then they will have to charge their clients the extra.
Seeker_UK
Feelin' nearly faded as my jeans
Mrs Seeker has elderly relatives who live in Walthamstow. We can use public transport and it will take us 20 minutes to get to the nearest train station, an hour to get to London, 20 minutes to get the tube to Walthamstow and 15 minutes to walk to their home. All for the cost of £100 each.
Or we can drive - £25. If we're lucky, 20 minutes less time each way and no sodding around changing between modes of transport.
ff1d1l
pfm Member
So you drive in your own car via Reading, hell, via the Vatican if you like, to park just outside the exclusion zone. You get a taxi. You transfer, from boot to boot.
You are taken to your destination.
If it's too onerous - and it doesn't seem particularly so to me - you might cease doing business within the zone, and give way to someone willing to put themselves out.
Paris is dreadful to drive in at the moment, because of the roadworks. All the tourist routes take hours, and forget driving along the Seine.
By summer, all should be finished, and Paris will have joined the leagues of the great cycling cities of the world, helping cure congestion, and standard of living, in one fell swoop.
If you wish to drive in a city, you should pay the maximum.
By summer, all should be finished, and Paris will have joined the leagues of the great cycling cities of the world, helping cure congestion, and standard of living, in one fell swoop.
If you wish to drive in a city, you should pay the maximum.
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stephen bennett
Mr Enigma
I’m still waiting to hear about Khan’s mysterious generous millionaire uncle.
To the OP, do you accept there a pollution issue wrt to vehicles in cities?
If so, how would you tackle it?
Stephen
To the OP, do you accept there a pollution issue wrt to vehicles in cities?
If so, how would you tackle it?
Stephen
lordsummit
Moderator
Blimey, how you travelling? Last time I went to London we got these:
http://www.londontravelpass.com/prices.html
£100 sounds like an excuse
Snufkin
pfm Member
I think what angers me about these new charges, and all the other charges in the pipeline, is that this increase in pollution was all so predictable. Pollution in cities is dreadful but has been all my life, this is not new.
One solution, cycling, has been marginalised for so long that it has now become a challenging practice in most urban areas in the UK. If we had taken the decisions the Dutch and the Danes had taken years ago then sure, spank the motorist but we haven't; cycling is now more challenging than it was 20 years ago. The cycle provision in the UK is mostly nonsensical and its a constant fight to get it improved. A consequence of poor cycle provision is that most serious cyclists, those using bikes for transport, don't use cycle routes because they make little sense. I live in a provincial town on the outskirts of London and the traffic gets worse every year and yet the cycle provision is a joke but like every urban area in the UK they like to fiscally punish drivers, it makes no sense.
Another solution would be to increase tax on employers whose staff live more than, for example, 10 miles away. I know this would require a great deal of thought and it would definitely not be a perfect solution but it shifts the burden of excessive commuting onto the shoulders of employers not employees.
And yet another solution would be to reduce the obsession the UK has with having only one significant centre of economic activity - London. Spread the activity around the UK and reduce the absurd levels of commuting in and out of London. I know all the arguments will get rolled out about how great London is and how it supports the rest of the UK but a) I don't care and b) I don't believe it.
One solution, cycling, has been marginalised for so long that it has now become a challenging practice in most urban areas in the UK. If we had taken the decisions the Dutch and the Danes had taken years ago then sure, spank the motorist but we haven't; cycling is now more challenging than it was 20 years ago. The cycle provision in the UK is mostly nonsensical and its a constant fight to get it improved. A consequence of poor cycle provision is that most serious cyclists, those using bikes for transport, don't use cycle routes because they make little sense. I live in a provincial town on the outskirts of London and the traffic gets worse every year and yet the cycle provision is a joke but like every urban area in the UK they like to fiscally punish drivers, it makes no sense.
Another solution would be to increase tax on employers whose staff live more than, for example, 10 miles away. I know this would require a great deal of thought and it would definitely not be a perfect solution but it shifts the burden of excessive commuting onto the shoulders of employers not employees.
And yet another solution would be to reduce the obsession the UK has with having only one significant centre of economic activity - London. Spread the activity around the UK and reduce the absurd levels of commuting in and out of London. I know all the arguments will get rolled out about how great London is and how it supports the rest of the UK but a) I don't care and b) I don't believe it.
TPA
Trade: Tiger Paw
There is something deeply flawed about the concept of taxing people in order to modify behaviour.
Essentially the message is: We don't actually care about congestion/pollution, we'd just like to make some money out of it.
It's the moral equivalent of giving out fixed penalty charges for rape.
Essentially the message is: We don't actually care about congestion/pollution, we'd just like to make some money out of it.
It's the moral equivalent of giving out fixed penalty charges for rape.
MJS
Technical Tinkerer
The biggest problem I have with the West End (Soho) is the enormous amount of delivery drivers 'just' making one small delivery to each of the coffe shops/restaurants/boutiques, blocking the pavements and requiring all over drivers doing the same thing the need to also drive all over the pavements, wrong way down streets etc. Personally I'd make Soho a vehicle-free zone. It has clearly defined borders and many useful areas where deliveries could be offloaded to porters on electric carts for local delivery. Exemptions can be made for specialist vehicles, e.g. those with tooling like the drain washers and aircon people or emergency tradesmen. The streets aren't then full of large trucks, the drivers of those trucks offload their contents quicker and the streets become cleaner and quieter.
I really don't see the need to drive into central London at all, I laugh at someone I know who drives in for business meetings and reckons he absolutely has to be seen to driving. He's often late and spends a fortune on parking or fines.
JensenHealey
pfm Member
That is just not the case. Tax is often quoted as money raising - but actually what happens in all cases is the prospect of paying a tax changes peoples behavior. And in this case it will too - it will prompt a number of people to change their car to something less polluting - the old car will go somewhere else in retirement or be recycled. And a lot of other people will decide to do something other than take their car into the city. So it helps to achieve good purpose.
If the Tax was a way of making money from congestion/pollution then it would be set a low rate and apply universally.
JensenHealey
pfm Member
SteveG
pfm Member
I lived in London for 5 years and in that time took a car into the congestion zone precisely once (and that was to pick up the house keys from the estate agent after driving down from London).
The OP sends his apologies: he is stuck in an endless 3rd gear loop.