possible congetsion charge extension

[siousxiesue]

More importantly, to me and many others, no getting rid of the 60+ bus pass/Freedom Pass.

This time anyways..

[Sally Eva]

I think it is the over 60s pass which is financed by TfL which is at stake. The Freedom Passes are not. The BBC specified that it was free travel for under 18s and over 60s which government was trying to cut.

They are financed by TfL. The Freedom Passes are financed by London Councils. Everyone who has got one (like me) can look at theirs and see.

[JohnL]

So when the next bailout is needed - will the same agreements be followed or is everything at stake again ?

[KidKruger]

Good question JohnL.

Also, I know people who have sold their older cars BECAUSE of this proposed extension to the ULEZ (I think it was previously planned for this October 2020).

One could celebrate an older car being taken off the road, but having to borrow money to upgrade a car which worked perfectly well then finding it wasn't after all necessary doesn't seem so funny to them.

[nxjen]

Don?t think the extension to the ULEZ zone and the mooted extension to the congestion charge zone are the same things?

[exdulwicher]

They're not - ULEZ was always going to be coming in October 2021 (not 2020 - maybe KidKruger is thinking of the beginning of the installation phase?), the idea of adding the CCZ in at the same time was one of Government's usual back-of-an-envelope ideas.

On another note, it's the anniversary of Mayor Boris Johnson introducing the uncosted Over 60's concession which Prime Minister Boris Johnson has just told Sadiq Khan to cut as evidence of London's bad financial management.

[JohnL]

exdulwicher Wrote:

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> On another note, it's the anniversary of Mayor

> Boris Johnson introducing the uncosted Over 60's

> concession which Prime Minister Boris Johnson has

> just told Sadiq Khan to cut as evidence of

> London's bad financial management.

Yeah but Boris never knew if he was coming or going.

Next year he'll deny he was ever Prime Minister

[Clifton]

As some previous posters have said, the public transport model in London is much better than the one used in other parts of the country.

We used to visit my parents-in-law in Yorkshire. Two competing companies each ran an hourly bus past the door on the same route. You might think there would have been a bus every half an hour, but the gap was actually just five minutes. Each company wanted its bus to run just before the other company's bus, so that it could maximise its passenger numbers. The timetables changed every few weeks as the companies played timing leapfrog.

Regulation by TfL gets us the sensible service patterns we have become used to in London. Action to introduce the same model elsewhere is long overdue.

[Dogkennelhillbilly]

KidKruger Wrote:

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> "No extension to Congestion Charge Zone."

> Thank heavens, what an insane proposal that was

> !!

Remember who proposed it?

[KidKruger]

DKHB - who cares, it was a stupid idea regardless.

[exdulwicher]

KidKruger Wrote:

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> DKHB - who cares, it was a stupid idea regardless.

The politics behind it were that Government were chancing their arm - if Khan had accepted it, they could have painted him as the man who brought extra costs to millions of Londoners. Ultimately it was a half arsed shot and I think they probably knew it had little chance of sticking.

However at some point it will come in - either as a Congestion Charge (perhaps a tiered approach of maybe ?8 inside the North and South Circulars and ?15 into the current CCZ) or, ideally, as a Road Pricing Scheme which looks at things like time of day, length of journey, type of vehicle, occupancy and so on.

There will have to be something to replace / supplement the loss of income from fuel duty, Vehicle Excise Duty and ULEZ as people move to hybrid and electric vehicles.

Some more details on the funding including the postponement (cancellation?) of CrossRail 2 in here:

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2020/nov/02/crossrail-2-plans-shelved-transport-for-london-funding-deal

[KidKruger]

So, even worse, then.

Not only was it a stupid idea, it was done for political point scoring.

The people living in the city and subject to the impacts of these decisions not even figuring in the consideration.

Nice.