TFL commissioned transport experts at Kings College to look at the CO2 implications of Livingstone's flagship £25 congestion charge policy. They didn't like the answer.
The Kings College report said that the £25 charge would in fact increase CO2 in London, completely destroying the environmental basis for Livingstone's envy tax. Politically neutral TFL didn't like the sound of Livingstone being exposed like that so they told Kings College to go away and come back with a different answer!
Well, he who pays the piper calls the tune.
Newslinks for Sunday 19th May 2013
1 hour ago
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6 comments:
James,
This whole policy has been a farce from the start.
The consultation cost £1.4 million - mainly the cost of the ads to make the Mayor look green.
The consultation elicited 4,831 responses and cost £1.4 million. That is £290 per response. Good value for money or just another £1 million towards the Mayor’s £100 million self-promotion budget?
The consultation report was suppressed for three months because it came up with the worng answer. 60% of respondents thought the higher charge would not work.
How many awkward reports have been shelved over the years?
How many awkward reports have been shelved over the years?
Well, there was the one that said is was safe to allow motorbikes in bus lanes.
The difficulty for Livingstone is that although it was a good bit of Tractor Bashing (popular with the hand-wringing, envy politics people) it also hits family cars who are an overlapping group.
Why anyone would want to drive into Central London is still beyond me, though.
The proposed increase for larger vehicles makes sense when you look at the cars on the roads of central London. Apart from buses and taxis which make up most of the traffic, the cars are Toyota Prias, Porshes, Mercs, Bentleys, and 4X4s. The poor have been forced off the roads in central London and only the rich can afford to drive into London.
Clearly the congestion charge is working well in cutting the number of cars in central London, but this is only benefiting the richest people - particularly those living in Kensington and Chelsea, inside the Western Extension. The rest of Londoners should have the right to benefit from the reduced traffic or at least to know that the mayor is targeting all sections of society and not just giving an extra perk to the rich.
In the week when the poorest in society have to pay twice as much tax for the middle classes and rich to get tax cuts, the politics of envy/anger seem perfectly reasonable.
Boris Johnson has confounded his critics and shown what a brilliant choice he will be, so Kens hould just go now.
Last time, 86& of Londoners didn't even vote, that is how inspiring they found Ken.
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