Shopping on line can be easy, simple and save you lots of money. It can also take a lot of your time, frustrate you, and result in unwanted purchases. Now the same can be said for regular high street shopping, but with the vast opportunity presented by the Internet it will pay you to spend a few minutes reading this and understanding how to better optimize your Congestion Charge shopping experience:

1. Compare - without doubt the biggest advantage that the Congestion Charge offers shoppers today is the ability to compare thousands of Congestion Charge at a time. This is a great thing, but not necessarily all the time! Too much can be daunting at times so take advantage of the great comparison sites and where possible let them do the hard work for you.

2. Research - if it has been said it will be on the internet. Ignorance is no longer a justifiable reason for buying the wrong thing. Take the time to research in detail everything that you could possible want to know about

3. Testimonials - don't know anybody that has bought a Congestion Charge? Wrong! If the Congestion Charge is good the internet will let you know. Use the Internet as a friend and get testimonials before you buy.

4. Questions - Got a question about Congestion Charge then search the Forums, FAQ's, Blogs etc. Don't be afraid to ask .....

5. Reputation - Never heard of the company selling Congestion Charge? Don't worry, no reason why you should know every company in the world, but you know someone that does! Use the internet to find out what people are saying about Congestion Charge and build up a picture of their reputation for sales, returns, customer service, delivery etc.

6. Returns - still worried that even after all of the above your Congestion Charge wont be what you want? Check out the returns policy. There is so much competition now that someone, somewhere is bound to offer the terms that you are comfortable with.

7. Feedback - happy with your Congestion Charge then let people know, after all you are depending on others people input in your buying decision, so why not give a little back.

8. Security - check for the yellow padlock on the Congestion Charge site before you buy, and the s after http:/ /i.e. https:// = a secure site

9. Contact - got a question about Congestion Charge, or want to leave a comment then check out the sites contact page. Reputable companies have them and respond.

10. Payment - ready to pay for your Congestion Charge, then use your credit card or PayPal! Be aware of companies that don't accept them, there may be genuine reasons but given the huge amount of choice you have when buying online there is no reason at all not to buy via credit card or PayPal.

Road pricing is a term used to cover all the various charges applied for the use of roads. The term includes fuel taxes, vehicle licence, Toll road, and congestion charges, including those which may vary by time of day, by the specific road, or by the specific vehicle, being used.{{cite web|title=Glossary of Terms for Managed Lanes |publisher=Managed Lanes |url=http://managed-lanes.tamu.edu/products/glossary.stm -->

European application Facing rising levels of traffic congestion, European governments are giving serious consideration to nationwide road pricing schemes which would exploit the new Galileo positioning system satellite positioning system. Every vehicle would have to contain a satellite tracking device which would determine which roads were being driven along, for how far and at what time of day. This information would then be sent to a central computer system.

See Toll roads in Europe for details on all countries.

Germany Schemes for charging trucks (lorries) in Germany by the company Toll Collect, and Austria are already underway. Under the German scheme, which went live on January 1, 2005, trucks pay between €0.09 and €0.14 per kilometer depending on their emission levels and number of axles. The expensive scheme, combining satellite technology with other technologies, suffered numerous delays before implementation, whilst a scheme using much simpler technology in Austria was up and running in 2004. In the UK, the Labour Party (UK) government announced in July 2005 that the proposed UK truck road user charging scheme would not go ahead.

Italy There is a small congestion charging zone in Rome.

Malta A fully automated system called a Controlled Vehicular Access (CVA) system has been launched in Malta's capital city of Valletta since 1 May 2007 Controlled Vehicular Access, CVA Technology, 1 May 2007.. A number of innovations have been introduced including variable payments according to the duration of stay, flexible exemption rules, including exemptions for residents within the charging zone and monthly billing options for vehicle owners.

Norway One of the earliest schemes was introduced in Bergen in Norway in 1986. Road Charging Scheme: Europe - Norway, Bergen, UK Commission for Integrated Transport, 21 June 2006. Retrieved on 22 June 2007.. Only traffic entering the town is charged and only during weekdays from 06.00 through to 22.00. Public service vehicles pay no charge.

The system is fully electronic using a system called AutoPASS with most local drivers purchasing a tag which is automatically read on passing the detectors. The same system is used throughout Norway for toll roads and congestion charging schemes etc. Motorists without a tag pay a fee at a manual barrier.

Sweden Stockholm has a congestion pricing system, Stockholm congestion tax, in use on a permanent basis since August 1, 2007, after having had a seven month trial period from January 3 to July 31, 2006. The Stockholm City Centre is within the congestion tax zone. All the entrances and exits of this area have unmanned control points operating with automatic number plate recognition. All vehicles entering or exiting the congestion tax affected area, with a few exceptions, have to pay 10–20 Swedish krona (1.09–2.18 Euro, 1.49–2.98 United States dollar) depending on the time of day between 06:30 and 18:29. The maximum tax amount per vehicle per day is 60 SEK (6.53 EUR, 8.94 USD). Payment is done by various means within 14 days after one has passed one of the control points, one cannot pay at the control points.

UK and congestion charge The current government did not originally float the idea of road user pricing for all UK vehicles; the government was also studying the idea in the 1980s, though principally considering tolling to pay for the construction of the motorways rather than to control congestion. In the early 1960s, the Smeed Report considered how to implement congestion charging.Tempest, Matthews, " Q&A: National road charging scheme", The Guardian, 7 August 2006. Retrieved on 22 June 2007.

Durham became the first city in the UK to have Durham City congestion charge in 2002." Durham congestion charging is signpost to future cities", transport2000.org.uk, 27 September 2002. Retrieved on 22 June 2007. London has had London congestion charge in the central area since 2003. The organisation responsible for the charge is Transport for London (TfL). The fee was introduced on February 17, 2003. Initially set at £5, then raised on July 4, 2005, to £8, the daily charge must be paid by the registered keeper of a vehicle that enters, leaves or moves around within the congestion charge zone between 7 a.m. and 6 p.m. (previously 6:30 p.m.), Monday to Friday. Failure to pay the charge means a fine of at least £50. A similar scheme is proposed in Manchester (see Manchester Congestion Charge), covering a wider area but with a much smaller daily charging window covering the morning and evening rush hours.

Extensive studies are being done on introducing a scheme for all UK vehicles, with an aim to implementation at the earliest around 2013. In October 2005 the UK government suggested they explore "piggy-backing" road pricing on private sector technologies, such as pay-as-you-go insurance (also known as Pay As You Drive PAYD), thus avoiding a large-scale public sector procurement exercise. If introduced, this scheme would likely see a charge being levied per kilometre depending on the time of day, the road being driven along, and perhaps the type of vehicle. For example, a large car driving along the western section of the M25 motorway in rush hour would pay a high charge; a small car driving along a rural lane would pay a much lower charge. The very highest charges would be likely in the most congested urban areas. It is expected that rural motorists would benefit the most from such a scheme, perhaps by paying less through road pricing than they do at present through petrol and car taxes, whereas urban motorists would pay much more than they presently do. However, this is highly dependent on whether such a scheme would be designed to be either revenue neutral or congestion neutral. A revenue neutral scheme would replace (at least in part) petrol and vehicle taxes, and would be such that Her Majesty's Treasury revenue under the new scheme would equal the revenue from current taxes. A congestion neutral scheme would be designed so that growth in congestion levels would stop as a result of the new charges; the latter scheme would require significantly higher (and increasingly higher) charges than the revenue neutral scheme and so would be unpopular with the UK's 30 million motorists. The carbon emission consequence of moving from fuel duty to a charge per mile has been raised as a concern by some environmentalists, as has any diversionary response from heavily trafficked (and hence more expensive) roads. The UK government announced funding for road pricing research in 7 local areas in November 2005.

In June 2005, Transport Secretary Alistair Darling announced the current proposals to introduce road pricing." 'Pay-as-you-go' road charge plan", BBC, 6 June 2005. Retrieved on 22 June 2007.Tempest, Matthews, " Darling unveils road charging plans", The Guardian, 9 June 2005. Retrieved on 22 June 2007. Every vehicle would be fitted with a satellite receiver to calculate charges, with prices (including fuel duty) ranging from 2p per mile on uncongested roads to £1.34 on the most congested roads at peak times" Feasibility study of road pricing in the UK" (para B.52), Department for Transport, 16 July 2004. Retrieved on 25 August 2007.

A 2007 online petition against road pricing, started by Peter Roberts and hosted by the British government, attracted over 1.8 million signatures, equivalent to 6% of the entire driving population. Over 150,000 signatures were added during the last day before the petition closed on Februray 20, 2007. In reply, the prime minister has e-mailed the petitioners outlining his rationale, denying that the proposals were to introduce a stealth tax or increase surveillance, and promising 'debate' before a decision was made as to whether to introduce a national scheme." Blair's statement in full", BBC, 21 February 2007. Retrieved on 22 June 2007. Also, in a recent poll 74% of those questioned opposed road pricing." PM denies road toll 'stealth tax'", BBC, 21 February 2007. Retrieved on 22 June 2007.

Singapore Gantry at North Bridge Road, SingaporeThe Electronic Road Pricing is an electronic toll collection scheme adopted in Singapore, implemented by the Land Transport Authority in September 1998 to replace the Singapore Area Licensing Scheme after successfully stress-testing the system with speeding Lamborghinis, Porsches and Ferraris. It is the first city in the world to implement an electronical toll collection system.

New York proposal On April 22, 2007, Michael Bloomberg, the Mayor of New York City, citing what he considered to be successes in London, Singapore and Stockholm, proposed a planhttp://www.nyc.gov/html/planyc2030/downloads/pdf/report_transportation.pdf to charge $8 per day for cars to use the streets of the central business district (southern half of [Manhattan) but not when using only the marginal highways, or nights or weekends. It would not involve satellite location, but drivers who wanted their tolls collected automatically could have a transponder like the E-ZPass already used to collect tolls on tunnels and bridges.

Immediately following the April 22nd announcement, a coalition under the banner Campaign for New York's Future came out in support of the Mayor's sustainability proposal, PlaNYC. Others opposed it, saying it would cause asthma or create "rat run" districts at the border. Opponent of the plan, state lawmaker Richard Brodsky issued a report on what he believes will be the plan's harmful effects. He calls it a "regressive tax" on the poor and middle class and harmful to citizens of New York City's outer boroughs.http://www.nypress.com/blogx/display_blog.cfm?bid=76891105

On July 16, 2007, the New York State legislature shelved the proposal to bring congestion pricing to Manhattan.http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/17/nyregion/17congestion.html A week later they passed a law creating a 17 member New York City Traffic Congestion Mitigation Commission to study methods.

Criticisms Opposition to road pricing, when coming from the broad political left wing is largely directed at perceptions of fairness." Road-fees scheme 'not definite'", BBC, 20 February 2007. Retrieved on 22 June 2007. Charging for something that was once "free" may be seen as unfair. Road pricing has the possibility of being a regressive tax, in that a flat-rate tax falls more heavily on poor drivers than the rich (the fuel tax, while moderately regressive, gives much more incentive to poor drivers than rich drivers to drive more fuel-efficient cars, thereby somewhat negating its regressive aspect). A way for the government to deflect this criticism would be to use the toll revenue to reduce other, equally regressive taxes. New toll roads in a largely free system may be seen as punishing one area when the rest of the system enjoys toll-free motoring. Proponents of pricing would counter the fairness or equity argument by stating that pricing creates a choice, and choices are fair because people are not identical, sometimes people have high values of time (e.g., when they are late for an appointment), sometimes they have lower values of time (e.g., when they are enjoying the drive). The proponents would thus suggest that making all drivers pay the same tax to receive the same service isn't fair if people value the service differently. Another argument is that, while road pricing may be unfair to some road users, the alternative, ie. congestion is unfair to all road users, since it wastes everyone's resources. The ultimate fairness of road pricing is only determined once the use of any net revenues is taken into account. However, in London, the Congestion Charge was introduced by Ken Livingstone who is generally regarded as a rabid left-winger.

conservatism critics such as Steven Norris, on the other hand, say that "free" roads produce positive externalities that outweigh the opportunity cost of congestion, i.e., that road pricing reduces the overall number of journeys, thus harming business and economic growth. In particular, Steven Norris argues that the cost of the congestion charge disproportionately hits low-paid workers whose working hours start at night when public transport is not available and end when the congestion period is in force, indirectly hitting London's service economy. However, Norris ignores the time limits of the London congestion charge which apply only between 7am and 6pm.

Motoring club see road pricing as an additional financial burden on already allegedly over-taxed car owners. Many are not opposed to road tolls as such, but wish to see them as a replacement for fuel tax rather than an additional charge.Millward, David, " Road pricing revolt is gathering speed", The Daily Telegraph, 3 January 2007. Retrieved on 22 June 2007.

Some groups of libertarian inclination, such as the Association of British Drivers, criticize road pricing on the basis of individual rights. They argue that freedom of movement is a fundamental right that should not be infringed through financial barriers, and sometimes compare the practice to highwayman.Note that some libertarians in general, however, favor transfer of roads to Private road, which is likely to result in tolls for individual roads, set on a profit-maximizing rather than an economic welfare-maximizing basis, which in many cases is likely to lead to a higher toll.

Others see proposed schemes, such as PAYD based upon a compulsory GPS GPS tracking, as an infringement on their civil liberties to privacy, and fear that such a mass surveillance system may be abused." 'Pay-as-you-go' road charge plan", BBC, 6 June 2005. Retrieved on 22 June 2007.Webster, Ben, " Road pricing: the plan", The Times, 2 March 2007. Retrieved on 22 June 2007.

The general public appears to have concerns about the proposed introduction of road pricing in the UK, with fears that the government could be using it to increase motoring taxes overall.Webster, Ben, "'Rewards' for drivers who back road prices", The Times, 2007-04-16. In 2003, the Institute of Public Policy Research think-tank concluded that overall road pricing would have to raise more money than current taxes if it were to reduce congestion." Q&A: Road pricing", BBC, 21 February 2007. Retrieved on 22 June 2007. Local authorities have been denied access to government transport funds for not including proposals for road pricing in their applications.Millward, David, " Downing St to email road pricing protesters", The Daily Telegraph, 13 February 2007. Retrieved on 22 June 2007.

See also

References

Further reading

External links

Road pricing is a term used to cover all the various charges applied for the use of roads. The term includes fuel taxes, vehicle licence, Toll road, and congestion charges, including those which may vary by time of day, by the specific road, or by the specific vehicle, being used.{{cite web|title=Glossary of Terms for Managed Lanes |publisher=Managed Lanes |url=http://managed-lanes.tamu.edu/products/glossary.stm -->

European application Facing rising levels of traffic congestion, European governments are giving serious consideration to nationwide road pricing schemes which would exploit the new Galileo positioning system satellite positioning system. Every vehicle would have to contain a satellite tracking device which would determine which roads were being driven along, for how far and at what time of day. This information would then be sent to a central computer system.

See Toll roads in Europe for details on all countries.

Germany Schemes for charging trucks (lorries) in Germany by the company Toll Collect, and Austria are already underway. Under the German scheme, which went live on January 1, 2005, trucks pay between €0.09 and €0.14 per kilometer depending on their emission levels and number of axles. The expensive scheme, combining satellite technology with other technologies, suffered numerous delays before implementation, whilst a scheme using much simpler technology in Austria was up and running in 2004. In the UK, the Labour Party (UK) government announced in July 2005 that the proposed UK truck road user charging scheme would not go ahead.

Italy There is a small congestion charging zone in Rome.

Malta A fully automated system called a Controlled Vehicular Access (CVA) system has been launched in Malta's capital city of Valletta since 1 May 2007 Controlled Vehicular Access, CVA Technology, 1 May 2007.. A number of innovations have been introduced including variable payments according to the duration of stay, flexible exemption rules, including exemptions for residents within the charging zone and monthly billing options for vehicle owners.

Norway One of the earliest schemes was introduced in Bergen in Norway in 1986. Road Charging Scheme: Europe - Norway, Bergen, UK Commission for Integrated Transport, 21 June 2006. Retrieved on 22 June 2007.. Only traffic entering the town is charged and only during weekdays from 06.00 through to 22.00. Public service vehicles pay no charge.

The system is fully electronic using a system called AutoPASS with most local drivers purchasing a tag which is automatically read on passing the detectors. The same system is used throughout Norway for toll roads and congestion charging schemes etc. Motorists without a tag pay a fee at a manual barrier.

Sweden Stockholm has a congestion pricing system, Stockholm congestion tax, in use on a permanent basis since August 1, 2007, after having had a seven month trial period from January 3 to July 31, 2006. The Stockholm City Centre is within the congestion tax zone. All the entrances and exits of this area have unmanned control points operating with automatic number plate recognition. All vehicles entering or exiting the congestion tax affected area, with a few exceptions, have to pay 10–20 Swedish krona (1.09–2.18 Euro, 1.49–2.98 United States dollar) depending on the time of day between 06:30 and 18:29. The maximum tax amount per vehicle per day is 60 SEK (6.53 EUR, 8.94 USD). Payment is done by various means within 14 days after one has passed one of the control points, one cannot pay at the control points.

UK and congestion charge The current government did not originally float the idea of road user pricing for all UK vehicles; the government was also studying the idea in the 1980s, though principally considering tolling to pay for the construction of the motorways rather than to control congestion. In the early 1960s, the Smeed Report considered how to implement congestion charging.Tempest, Matthews, " Q&A: National road charging scheme", The Guardian, 7 August 2006. Retrieved on 22 June 2007.

Durham became the first city in the UK to have Durham City congestion charge in 2002." Durham congestion charging is signpost to future cities", transport2000.org.uk, 27 September 2002. Retrieved on 22 June 2007. London has had London congestion charge in the central area since 2003. The organisation responsible for the charge is Transport for London (TfL). The fee was introduced on February 17, 2003. Initially set at £5, then raised on July 4, 2005, to £8, the daily charge must be paid by the registered keeper of a vehicle that enters, leaves or moves around within the congestion charge zone between 7 a.m. and 6 p.m. (previously 6:30 p.m.), Monday to Friday. Failure to pay the charge means a fine of at least £50. A similar scheme is proposed in Manchester (see Manchester Congestion Charge), covering a wider area but with a much smaller daily charging window covering the morning and evening rush hours.

Extensive studies are being done on introducing a scheme for all UK vehicles, with an aim to implementation at the earliest around 2013. In October 2005 the UK government suggested they explore "piggy-backing" road pricing on private sector technologies, such as pay-as-you-go insurance (also known as Pay As You Drive PAYD), thus avoiding a large-scale public sector procurement exercise. If introduced, this scheme would likely see a charge being levied per kilometre depending on the time of day, the road being driven along, and perhaps the type of vehicle. For example, a large car driving along the western section of the M25 motorway in rush hour would pay a high charge; a small car driving along a rural lane would pay a much lower charge. The very highest charges would be likely in the most congested urban areas. It is expected that rural motorists would benefit the most from such a scheme, perhaps by paying less through road pricing than they do at present through petrol and car taxes, whereas urban motorists would pay much more than they presently do. However, this is highly dependent on whether such a scheme would be designed to be either revenue neutral or congestion neutral. A revenue neutral scheme would replace (at least in part) petrol and vehicle taxes, and would be such that Her Majesty's Treasury revenue under the new scheme would equal the revenue from current taxes. A congestion neutral scheme would be designed so that growth in congestion levels would stop as a result of the new charges; the latter scheme would require significantly higher (and increasingly higher) charges than the revenue neutral scheme and so would be unpopular with the UK's 30 million motorists. The carbon emission consequence of moving from fuel duty to a charge per mile has been raised as a concern by some environmentalists, as has any diversionary response from heavily trafficked (and hence more expensive) roads. The UK government announced funding for road pricing research in 7 local areas in November 2005.

In June 2005, Transport Secretary Alistair Darling announced the current proposals to introduce road pricing." 'Pay-as-you-go' road charge plan", BBC, 6 June 2005. Retrieved on 22 June 2007.Tempest, Matthews, " Darling unveils road charging plans", The Guardian, 9 June 2005. Retrieved on 22 June 2007. Every vehicle would be fitted with a satellite receiver to calculate charges, with prices (including fuel duty) ranging from 2p per mile on uncongested roads to £1.34 on the most congested roads at peak times" Feasibility study of road pricing in the UK" (para B.52), Department for Transport, 16 July 2004. Retrieved on 25 August 2007.

A 2007 online petition against road pricing, started by Peter Roberts and hosted by the British government, attracted over 1.8 million signatures, equivalent to 6% of the entire driving population. Over 150,000 signatures were added during the last day before the petition closed on Februray 20, 2007. In reply, the prime minister has e-mailed the petitioners outlining his rationale, denying that the proposals were to introduce a stealth tax or increase surveillance, and promising 'debate' before a decision was made as to whether to introduce a national scheme." Blair's statement in full", BBC, 21 February 2007. Retrieved on 22 June 2007. Also, in a recent poll 74% of those questioned opposed road pricing." PM denies road toll 'stealth tax'", BBC, 21 February 2007. Retrieved on 22 June 2007.

Singapore Gantry at North Bridge Road, SingaporeThe Electronic Road Pricing is an electronic toll collection scheme adopted in Singapore, implemented by the Land Transport Authority in September 1998 to replace the Singapore Area Licensing Scheme after successfully stress-testing the system with speeding Lamborghinis, Porsches and Ferraris. It is the first city in the world to implement an electronical toll collection system.

New York proposal On April 22, 2007, Michael Bloomberg, the Mayor of New York City, citing what he considered to be successes in London, Singapore and Stockholm, proposed a planhttp://www.nyc.gov/html/planyc2030/downloads/pdf/report_transportation.pdf to charge $8 per day for cars to use the streets of the central business district (southern half of [Manhattan) but not when using only the marginal highways, or nights or weekends. It would not involve satellite location, but drivers who wanted their tolls collected automatically could have a transponder like the E-ZPass already used to collect tolls on tunnels and bridges.

Immediately following the April 22nd announcement, a coalition under the banner Campaign for New York's Future came out in support of the Mayor's sustainability proposal, PlaNYC. Others opposed it, saying it would cause asthma or create "rat run" districts at the border. Opponent of the plan, state lawmaker Richard Brodsky issued a report on what he believes will be the plan's harmful effects. He calls it a "regressive tax" on the poor and middle class and harmful to citizens of New York City's outer boroughs.http://www.nypress.com/blogx/display_blog.cfm?bid=76891105

On July 16, 2007, the New York State legislature shelved the proposal to bring congestion pricing to Manhattan.http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/17/nyregion/17congestion.html A week later they passed a law creating a 17 member New York City Traffic Congestion Mitigation Commission to study methods.

Criticisms Opposition to road pricing, when coming from the broad political left wing is largely directed at perceptions of fairness." Road-fees scheme 'not definite'", BBC, 20 February 2007. Retrieved on 22 June 2007. Charging for something that was once "free" may be seen as unfair. Road pricing has the possibility of being a regressive tax, in that a flat-rate tax falls more heavily on poor drivers than the rich (the fuel tax, while moderately regressive, gives much more incentive to poor drivers than rich drivers to drive more fuel-efficient cars, thereby somewhat negating its regressive aspect). A way for the government to deflect this criticism would be to use the toll revenue to reduce other, equally regressive taxes. New toll roads in a largely free system may be seen as punishing one area when the rest of the system enjoys toll-free motoring. Proponents of pricing would counter the fairness or equity argument by stating that pricing creates a choice, and choices are fair because people are not identical, sometimes people have high values of time (e.g., when they are late for an appointment), sometimes they have lower values of time (e.g., when they are enjoying the drive). The proponents would thus suggest that making all drivers pay the same tax to receive the same service isn't fair if people value the service differently. Another argument is that, while road pricing may be unfair to some road users, the alternative, ie. congestion is unfair to all road users, since it wastes everyone's resources. The ultimate fairness of road pricing is only determined once the use of any net revenues is taken into account. However, in London, the Congestion Charge was introduced by Ken Livingstone who is generally regarded as a rabid left-winger.

conservatism critics such as Steven Norris, on the other hand, say that "free" roads produce positive externalities that outweigh the opportunity cost of congestion, i.e., that road pricing reduces the overall number of journeys, thus harming business and economic growth. In particular, Steven Norris argues that the cost of the congestion charge disproportionately hits low-paid workers whose working hours start at night when public transport is not available and end when the congestion period is in force, indirectly hitting London's service economy. However, Norris ignores the time limits of the London congestion charge which apply only between 7am and 6pm.

Motoring club see road pricing as an additional financial burden on already allegedly over-taxed car owners. Many are not opposed to road tolls as such, but wish to see them as a replacement for fuel tax rather than an additional charge.Millward, David, " Road pricing revolt is gathering speed", The Daily Telegraph, 3 January 2007. Retrieved on 22 June 2007.

Some groups of libertarian inclination, such as the Association of British Drivers, criticize road pricing on the basis of individual rights. They argue that freedom of movement is a fundamental right that should not be infringed through financial barriers, and sometimes compare the practice to highwayman.Note that some libertarians in general, however, favor transfer of roads to Private road, which is likely to result in tolls for individual roads, set on a profit-maximizing rather than an economic welfare-maximizing basis, which in many cases is likely to lead to a higher toll.

Others see proposed schemes, such as PAYD based upon a compulsory GPS GPS tracking, as an infringement on their civil liberties to privacy, and fear that such a mass surveillance system may be abused." 'Pay-as-you-go' road charge plan", BBC, 6 June 2005. Retrieved on 22 June 2007.Webster, Ben, " Road pricing: the plan", The Times, 2 March 2007. Retrieved on 22 June 2007.

The general public appears to have concerns about the proposed introduction of road pricing in the UK, with fears that the government could be using it to increase motoring taxes overall.Webster, Ben, "'Rewards' for drivers who back road prices", The Times, 2007-04-16. In 2003, the Institute of Public Policy Research think-tank concluded that overall road pricing would have to raise more money than current taxes if it were to reduce congestion." Q&A: Road pricing", BBC, 21 February 2007. Retrieved on 22 June 2007. Local authorities have been denied access to government transport funds for not including proposals for road pricing in their applications.Millward, David, " Downing St to email road pricing protesters", The Daily Telegraph, 13 February 2007. Retrieved on 22 June 2007.

See also

References

Further reading

External links



Congestion Charging | Transport for London
Transport for London

About the Congestion Charge | Transport for London
About the Congestion Charge. Vehicles which drive within a clearly defined zone of central London between the hours of 07:00 and 18:00, Monday to Friday, have to pay an £8 daily ...

BBC - London - Travel - Congestion
Find out all you need to know with our congestion charge guide. ... You are in: London > Travel > Congestion Charge. Find out all you need to know with our congestion charge guide.

BBC - London - Travel - The Western Extension
The congestion charge was extended west in February 2007. Here's your guide to exactly who is affected and where

BBC NEWS | England | Livingstone hails congestion charge
Ken Livingstone says the scheme produced London's best day for traffic in living memory, but up to 10,000 face non-payment fines.

BBC NEWS | Health | Congestion charge 'boosts health'
London's congestion charge may have delivered a small, unexpected health bonus to the capital, say researchers.

KenBuster: Auto Congestion Charge payment nonsense - Crave at CNET.co ...
Come to CNET.co.uk for product reviews and ratings, technology news, gadget blogs, technology videos, help and how-to and prices for UK consumer tech products

Mayor of London - Congestion Charging
Crime, Policing and Emergencies Culture Economic Policy Education Environment and climate change Equality and Diversity Health Housing and Homelessness

Congestion Zone - Have your say - Motoring - Virgin Media
Will the extension of London's congestion zone improve the efficiency and appeal of using public transport? Have your say.

London Congestion Charge discounts for low carbon vehicles - Energy ...
Find out if you are eligible for a London Congestion Charge discount. Drivers on the PowerShift register can get discounted fees.

 

Congestion Charge



 
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