London motorists have lengthy felt beneath hearth. And that’s no shock: driving across the capital beneath Mayor Sadiq Khan is an more and more costly and disturbing endeavour.
The Congestion Cost, launched in 2003, was joined by ULEZ in 2019. And later this month the Mayor will lengthen the scheme throughout each London borough – prompting critics to dub him ‘Highwayman Khan’.
So as to add insult to damage, it lately emerged drivers will quickly should pay to make use of the Blackwall Tunnel – a serious route linking central London with the South East. This provoked contemporary claims car customers are getting used as a ‘money cow’.
Beneath is the story of how a dizzying array of fees, tolls and fines danger making London a no-go space for motorists.
£12.50 a day ULEZ cost
The enlargement of ULEZ on the finish of the month has been Mr Khan’s single most controversial transport coverage – with even Labour chief Sir Keir Starmer blaming it for his social gathering’s latest by-election loss in Uxbridge.
The scheme will cowl all London boroughs from August 29 and drive drivers of non-compliant automobiles to shell out £12.50 a day – on high of some other fees just like the £15 Congestion Cost.
Some opponents have resorted to vandalism, with a video showing activists from a gaggle calling itself ‘the Blade Runners’ sabotaging a ULEZ digicam with a tree lopper as diners watched on.
TfL has insisted that 9 out of ten automobiles seen driving in outer London on a mean day adjust to the Ulez requirements. However figures obtained by the RAC present greater than 690,000 licensed automobiles in the entire of London are prone to be non-compliant.
A ‘stealth’ fleet of digicam vans will probably be used to implement the hated levy – with the plain benefit that they’re cellular and tough to vandalise.
The enlargement of ULEZ on the finish of the month has been Mr Khan’s single most controversial transport coverage. Pictured is without doubt one of the cameras monitoring the scheme
At the very least 200 of the everlasting cameras have been attacked to date, with TfL now not updating its numbers to keep away from encouraging extra assaults.
In a single weird incident, a ULEZ digicam has been erected in the midst of a quiet cul-de-sac – leaving residents dealing with the £12.50 cost merely for leaving their ‘little street no person is aware of about’.
Useless-end Headley Shut solely comprises round 30 properties and a line of garages, leaving neighbours confused as to why it had been chosen for the enforcement measure.
One 47-year-long resident believes the digicam has been put there as a result of the untarmacked street is the final earlier than London Borough of Kingston-upon-Thames turns into Epsom and Ewell, which isn’t inside the cost zone.
One other close by digicam seems to have been beheaded by vandals, with two cardboard indicators studying ‘Our native hero! Prime man’ and ‘Thanks! Up yours Khan!’
Native builder Gary Schoard stated he must take into account scrapping his automotive and complained a £2,000 scrappage fee he has been provided gained’t cowl the price.
Some opponents have resorted to vandalism, with a video displaying activists from a gaggle calling itself ‘the Blade Runners’ sabotaging a ULEZ digicam with a tree lopper as diners watched on
He advised he would possibly promote his car on the south coast, as a result of it might fetch round £10,000 versus the £7,000 he expects he might get from scrapping it by way of Mr Khan’s scheme.
His brother, Rod, stated ‘We’re not affected by it as a result of our automobiles are compliant, however I simply suppose it’s a very dangerous concept – it impacts too many individuals who want it for work, even taxi drivers.
‘Though the thought of it’s okay, I suppose, to avoid wasting lives, it’s not been thought by way of. It needs to be differentiated; I feel they need to separate staff from informal drivers. I’m positive they may have performed. I don’t agree with it.’
‘£2 to £5’ for the Blackwall Tunnel
Drivers suffered one other blow this week when it emerged they are going to quickly should pay a toll to make use of the Blackwall Tunnel – one of many busiest crossings over the Thames.
TfL confirmed will probably be charging drivers who use the beforehand free route, which is utilized by hundreds of motorists commuting into the capital from the South East.
The toll will range by car and has not but been determined – though when the thought was mooted by TfL in 2012 the price was estimated at £2 for automobiles, rising to £5 for vehicles.
Drivers approaching the Blackwall Tunnel in Greenwich after the beginning of the varsity holidays final month
The toll for the Blackwall Tunnel will solely be applied as soon as the Silvertown Tunnel, which can hyperlink Silvertown and Greenwich, opens in 2025.
TfL say the price will cowl the £2billion price of constructing and sustaining the brand new tunnel, with any surplus ‘reinvested’ into the broader transport community.
The Blackwall Tunnel is without doubt one of the few crossings within the space, with solely the Dartford Crossing and Woolwich Ferry additional east. It’s at the moment utilized by 100,000 automobiles daily.
Robin Hopkins, 63, is director of supply agency RMH Identical Day Couriers and commonly travels to London from his dwelling within the Midlands.
He advised MailOnline the cost for the Blackwall Tunnel was solely the most recent instance of Mr Khan in search of to ‘seize money’ from motorists.
‘I’ve been in central London since early right this moment and have been by way of the Congestion Cost zone and ULEZ,’ he stated.
The toll for the Blackwall Tunnel will solely be applied as soon as the Silvertown Tunnel, which can hyperlink Silvertown and Greenwich, opens in 2025. It comes as motorists brace for the extension of Ulez later this month
‘The Blackwall Tunnel will solely be the beginning of it – I can see tolls being up on different bridges and crossings as effectively.
‘As quickly as I’ve further prices or tolls I’ve to move these onto my clients. It’s a trickle-down impact.
‘Transport companies have already been hammered by gas prices, and numerous them have needed to pack it in after many years of service.
‘Motorists are clearly being focused for a money seize by Sadiq Khan. We urgently want a brand new Mayor who befits the position.’
£3 toll on a reopened Hammersmith Bridge?
Hammersmith Bridge in south-west London was shut to automobiles in 2019 after cracks appeared within the good-looking Victorian construction. Ever since, the failure to restore and reopen it has change into one thing of a nationwide embarrassment.
Councillor Stephen Cowan, chief of Hammersmith & Fulham Council, has emphasised that any determination over the way forward for the bridge is finally right down to Mr Khan and the Authorities.
He has raised the prospect of a toll to fund the estimated £230million restore invoice. The council has estimated a cost of £3 might elevate the quantity wanted.
A toll has been mooted for Hammersmith Bridge to pay for repairs to the Victorian landmark
A spokesperson for Mr Khan advised he could be ready to again a toll if it was managed by the Division for Transport.
Hammersmith & Fulham Council have been clear that the aim of a possible cost on the bridge could be to boost income to repay the prices of restore works on the bridge, and to not ship wider transport coverage goals,’ they stated.
‘As such, the suitable strategy to introduce the toll is thru a tolling order, which might be managed by the Division for Transport.
‘The Mayor and TfL are dedicated to supporting the reopening of Hammersmith Bridge and can proceed to work intently with the native council and the Authorities.’
Close by Wandsworth Bridge can also be closed to motorists because of the want to switch ‘essential weight-bearing elements’. It’s anticipated to reopen in late September.
£69m in ‘unlawful’ parking fines
TfL has been accused of ‘breaking the regulation’ by utilizing CCTV to effective drivers somewhat than counting on visitors wardens.
Motorists might be owed tens of millions of kilos in refunds from penalty cost notices (PCNs) issued illegally in London after a panel of attorneys dominated towards the capital’s transport authority, which Mr Khan oversees.
The check case discovered that TfL broke authorities steerage by utilizing CCTV somewhat than civil enforcement officers (CEOs), visitors wardens, to effective motorists parked in bays on pink routes in London.
Motorists might be owed tens of millions of kilos in refunds from penalty cost notices (PCNs) issued illegally in London
In 2015, the federal government launched legal guidelines to restrict using CCTV in issuing fines due to ‘overzealous enforcement by native authorities’.
The ruling from London Tribunals might be utilized in appeals towards parking offences throughout the nation. A spokesperson for the service advised The Telegraph that whereas it didn’t set a authorized precedent, different adjudicators ‘could take earlier choices into consideration earlier than reaching a conclusion’.
Round 435,000 PCNs of every kind are issued by TfL annually, in keeping with knowledge, seen by The Telegraph. Paid at a full cost of £160, that is round £69million.
Mr Khan has sought a Excessive Courtroom ruling on the matter.
‘Momentary’ Congestion Cost rise to £15 that turned everlasting
In June 2020, Mr Khan rose the Congestion Cost by 30 per cent to £15 after claiming he had been pressured to take action beneath the phrases of a £1.6billion authorities bailout for Transport for London.
But a 12 months later there was fury from motoring teams when it emerged the rise had been made everlasting.
The AA criticised the choice to maintain the cost at £15, saying it takes ‘cash-guzzling from motorists to a brand new degree’ and ‘proves that the London congestion is all about tax’.
The RAC additionally advised MailOnline that it’ll ‘hit these within the pocket that may least afford it’, whereas the Alliance of British Drivers (ABD) described the transfer as ‘downright underhanded’.
£100m in three years from low-traffic neighbourhoods
London councils issued 1.1million fines – price as much as £100million – to motorists who drove by way of low-traffic neighbourhoods (LTNs) over three years, in keeping with the most recent out there figures.
The multi-million pound schemes, which had been put in place by the federal government to encourage a long run transfer in the direction of extra biking and strolling, have been branded as council ‘money cows’.
London councils issued 1.1million fines – price as much as £100million – to motorists who drove by way of low-traffic neighbourhoods over three years. Pictured is an instance of certainly one of them
The controversial schemes have been accused of constructing little affect on air pollution and easily shifting congestion and CO2 emissions to different areas.
However figures launched in November 2022 confirmed they’ve proved to be cash spinners for native councils.
South London borough Lambeth dished out 147,612 fines, price a complete of £19,189,560 whereas Ealing despatched out 121,835 fines with a possible worth of £15,838,550.
Mr Khan has been a fervent supporter of LTNs however admitted earlier this year that they ‘aren’t good’ and a few might have eradicating.
Purple route fines hiked to £160
Fines for drivers who break guidelines alongside London’s no-stopping ‘pink routes’ rose by almost 1 / 4 in the beginning of the 12 months to £160.
PCNs are issued to drivers who fail to comply with the foundations on London’s community of pink routes – which make up of 5 per cent of the capital’s roads however carry as a lot as 30 per cent of its visitors.
London’s pink routes community has been in existence because the Nineties and customarily ban motorists from stopping on the town’s key arterial roads
AA president Edmund King claimed there’s ‘no justification’ for the choice, however TfL insisted the transfer would ‘scale back street hazard and disruption’.
Almost two-thirds (65%) of respondents to a TfL session had been against the rise.
London’s pink routes are roads managed by TfL and have particular guidelines figuring out when and the place automobiles can cease and park in a bid to maintain visitors flowing.
Between 2016-2019 there was a 26% leap within the variety of PCNs issued for street offences in London.
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