Small cars to escape London congestion charge?

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Tue 14 Aug 2007 13:34
Small cars to escape London congestion charge? - Chris White
In February, if proposals are approved, cars that emit less than 120g CO2 will be allowed into the congestion zone free of charge.

But the worst offenders will have the daily fee increased from £8 to £25 from October.

tinyurl.com/2jbcvb

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Tue 14 Aug 2007 14:00
Small cars to escape London congestion charge? - Xileno {P}
Until everyone has a low emission car then they will lower the limit again. I hope Boris gets in.
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Tue 14 Aug 2007 14:05
Small cars to escape London congestion charge? - Collos25
Boris is a cyclist so he will stay much the same as Ken
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Tue 14 Aug 2007 14:33
Small cars to escape London congestion charge? - retgwte
this is a stupid policy for any number of reasons

for one it has nothing to do with congenstion

for two it penalises folk with dodgy knees or similar driving automatics, most of who will not be registered disabled and will not want the hassle of going down that route

for three its easy for a car maker to make a marginal car improve its CO2 on the scale simply by doing stupid stuff like putting thinner tyres on it, and this of course will end up with cars that handle/brake less well, and are more likely to have worse braking distance killing more kids that run in front of cars etc

do i really have to go on

is nobody giving ken this obvious feedback?

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Tue 14 Aug 2007 14:43
Small cars to escape London congestion charge? - boxsterboy
for two it penalises folk with dodgy knees or similar driving automatics >>


Well my automatic will be exempt, so I say bring it on!
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Tue 14 Aug 2007 14:47
Small cars to escape London congestion charge? - Nsar
Meanwhile in Manchester, the Council have managed to overspend the budget for their bid for congestion charge money from Central Govt by £6.6m - that's just the overspend on what it has cost them to put a bid in.

Anyone care to bet how much the final overspend on a £3bn transport fund will be if these chimps ever get their hands on it?

www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/s/1013/101348...l

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Tue 14 Aug 2007 16:31
Small cars to escape London congestion charge? - freakybacon
You have to speculate to accumulate! Think how much brass the Manchester congestion tax will bring in! Forget all the businesses on the outskirts that will be forced to relocate or close- get yourself on the public sector bandwagon! and don't forget that this city has a first-rate public transport system!
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Tue 14 Aug 2007 19:23
Small cars to escape London congestion charge? - barney100
London extortion charge more like. But there is nothing you can do about it. The powers that be dream up schemes to get money from the motorist, make it law and thats it. £25 to drive into London? forget it Ken. I have paid my road tax and as far as I'm concerned the bits you drive on in London are roads.
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Tue 14 Aug 2007 19:35
Small cars to escape London congestion charge? - Bromptonaut
Thoughtful editorial in tonight's Standard (never thought I'd write that!!).

Message basically is that C it was designed to deter all car usage in Central London and free up road space for public transport. Taxing pollution is a different objective and cannot be acheived with the same "tool".
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Tue 14 Aug 2007 20:54
Small cars to escape London congestion charge? - milkyjoe
how much carp does a taxi cab spew out all day? 2.5 litre and they carry less than two people most of the time, they should get rid same as for busses , if all the soft southern types used the tube then everyone else could use the roads
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Tue 14 Aug 2007 22:30
Small cars to escape London congestion charge? - DP
I was listening to BBC London driving home tonight, and a most pious and patronising person called Jenny Jones from the Green Party said she wanted to see all drivers penalised for driving into London, and there should be no exceptions apart from disabled people.

What are people supposed to do? The Tube and the buses are rammed at rush hour. There is no extra capacity!

Cheers
DP
--
04 Grand Scenic 1.9 dCi Dynamique
00 Mondeo 1.8TD LX
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Wed 15 Aug 2007 00:32
Small cars to escape London congestion charge? - ukbeefy
But do remember that the congestion charge zone really is the central area where there is practically no parking of any description or cheapness. What I think the charge has disuaded rightly in my mind (as a non-car owner and big user of buses and the tube) is people driving from north to south or east to west etc right through the centre of town and out again. I had a mate of mine who used to drive from Swiss Cottage to Camberwell every day to work and at the time got a free car space even though the tube and bus would be quicker and generate less fumes/carbon footprint. I'm glad the CC has taken people like him off the road at least at commuting times.

I have definitely found near me (1 mile outside the zone) that bus travel is quicker/more reliable and feels better to use since the CC was introduced.

To be there is a big social equity benefit of the congestion charge - it to me rebalances the rights of those who use particularly the buses who have gained alot from buses being given more priority, road space and reduced obstructions from private cars. Buses now have a generally better image/more funding and better social profile than before.
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