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Commuters to be hit by congestion charge chaos

People living in inner London but outside the congestion charging zone will be confronted by a “double whammy” of their streets being turned into rat runs and they themselves being forced off overcrowded tubes when the scheme is introduced.

The warning is made in a report by the London Assembly's transport committee after information it received from the Mayor's Transport for London (TfL), the scheme's operator, predicted that many streets would experience a rise of up to 200 cars an hour as drivers try to divert around the zone.

Assembly members discovered that only one in four of the 165 schemes, which are planned to minimise the diversion of traffic onto unsuitable local roads, would be in place by the time charging is introduced.

Residents in inner boroughs will also suffer as people who live in outer London switch from their cars to trains and tubes. By the time these more crowded services reach inner London stations, locals will have to wait longer for space on carriages or be forced on to buses.

While more buses are planned, the report queries whether TfL has sufficiently improved services ahead of the scheme's introduction. One in four of all low frequency bus services are still not running on time.

A publicity campaign to make commuters aware of services in their area is in its early stages. The roll-out of 'countdown' signs has been delayed. The report questions if Londoners will tolerate TfL's assumption that its planned extra buses will soak up those forced off trains.

“For those living on the edge of the charging zone this amounts to a 'double whammy' – more overcrowding on trains to work and greater likelihood of 'rat running' in their local streets,” the report warns.

Assembly members also express concern that the Mayor has declined to reveal how and when he will judge whether the scheme is a success. If the scheme is scrapped, the report says that TfL could be liable for hundreds of millions of pounds in compensation to contractors, over and above the £200 million start-up costs.

“We find it astounding that a scheme, which will have a major impact on London, can be arbitrarily withdrawn without any published performance criteria by which it can be publicly judged,” the report says.

There is the possibility that, without proper public oversight, the scheme may be declared a success by tackling congestion in central London while ignoring its impact on other parts of the city and the lives, jobs and environment of its residents.

For example, TfL says major roadworks and traffic signal engineering will finish in time for the introduction of the scheme. But will Londoners be told whether or not the impact of the projects' completion is included in the Mayor's assessment of congestion charging?

John Biggs, Chair of the Transport Committee, said:

“Alleviating congestion in central London will inevitably involve some disruption. It may, however, come at the cost of frustrating, inconveniencing and alienating large numbers of Londoners, and that is its greatest risk.”

“The public interest in this innovative development of transport policy is intense and we, like many, wish it fair passage. Our fingers are crossed.”