page_title: Congestion pricing
section_title: London
hierarchical_section_title: Congestion pricing / Urban roads / Cordon area and area wide / London
caption_attribution_description: English: Entrance to the London Congestion Charge zone. Shown the CCTV used to control vehicles entering the zone's boundary.
context_page_description: Congestion pricing or congestion charges is a system of surcharging users of public goods that are subject to congestion through excess demand, such as through higher peak charges for use of bus services, electricity, metros, railways, telephones, and road pricing to reduce traffic congestion; airlines and shipping companies may be charged higher fees for slots at airports and through canals at busy times. Advocates claim this pricing strategy regulates demand, making it possible to manage congestion without increasing supply.
  According to the economic theory behind congestion pricing, the objective of this policy is the use of the price mechanism to make users conscious of the costs that they impose upon one another when consuming during the peak demand, and that they should pay for the additional congestion they create, thus encouraging the redistribution of the demand in space or in time, and forcing them to pay for the negative externalities they create, making users more aware of their impact on the environment.
context_section_description: A proposal by former Mayor of London Ken Livingstone would have resulted in a new pricing structure based on potential CO₂ emission rates by October 2008. The goal was that vehicles with the very lowest CO₂ emission rates would be exempted, and those with higher emission rates would pay a new higher charge of £25, with the rest paying the same charge they pay today. However, Livingstone's successor as Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, announced at the beginning of his administration that he would reform the congestion charge.
  Johnson announced in July 2008 that the new CO₂ charging structure will no longer be implemented. Among other reasons, he said the environmental charge would encourage travel by thousands of smaller vehicles free of charge, resulting in increased congestion and pollution. He also discarded plans for extending the charge zone to the suburbs, and announced he will review the western extension implemented in 2007, based on a public consultation planned for September 2008. Having held a five-week public consultation with residents in the autumn of 2008, Johnson decided to remove the 2007 Western Extension from the congestion charging zone beginning on January 4, 2011, to increase the basic charge to GB£10, and also to introduce an automated payment system called Congestion Charging Auto Pay (CC Auto Pay), which will charge vehicles based on the number of charging days a vehicle travels within the charging zone each month, and the drivers of these vehicles will pay a reduced GB£9 daily charge.
  In November 2012 Transport for London (TfL) presented a proposal to abolish the Greener Vehicle Discount that benefited, among others, vehicles with small diesel engines that avoid the charge because their engines produce emissions of less than 100g per km of CO₂. Approved by Mayor Boris Johnson in April 2013, the Ultra Low Emission Discount (ULED) went into effect on 1 July 2013. The ULED introduced more stringent emission standards that limit the free access to the congestion charge zone to all-electric cars, some plug-in hybrids, and any car or van that emits 75g/km or less of CO₂ and meets the Euro 5 emission standards for air quality. The measure was designed to curb the growing number of diesel vehicles on London's roads. About 20,000 owners of vehicles registered for the Greener Vehicle Discount by June 2013 were granted a three-year sunset period before they have to pay the full congestion charge. The sunset period ended on 24 June 2016.
  Since the congestion charge introduction in 2003, over £1.2 billion has been invested in transport through December 2013, including £960 million on improvements to the bus network; £102 million on roads and bridges; £70 million on road safety; £51 million on local transport/borough plans; and £36 million on sustainable transport and the environment. There has been criticism because during the first ten years since the scheme was implemented, gross revenue reached about £2.6 billion, but only £1.2 billion has been invested, meaning that 54% of gross revenues have been spent in operating the system and administrative expenses.
  In June 2014 the standard charge was raised 15% from £10 per day to £11.50.  According to TfL the objective of the increase is to recoup inflation over the previous three years and ensure the charge remains an effective deterrent to making unnecessary journeys in central London.
  A new toxicity charge, known as T-charge was introduced from 23 October 2017. Older and more polluting cars and vans that do not meet Euro 4 standards will have to pay an extra £10 charge on top of the  £11.50 congestion charge to drive in central London, within the Congestion Charge Zone (CCZ). The charge typically applies to diesel and petrol vehicles registered before 2006, and the levy is expected to affect up to 10,000 vehicles. London Mayor Sadiq Khan announced the introduction of the scheme in February 2017 after London achieved record air pollution levels the previous month, and the city was put on very high pollution alert for the first time ever, as cold and stationary w
caption: Entrance to the London Congestion Charge zone. Shown traffic sign and the CCTV used to control vehicles entering the zone's boundary.
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