London congestion charge

The London congestion charge scheme is the most well known road pricing scheme in the UK and was introduced in 2003.

Photo by Joshua Kaufman

Vehicles driving in the central London charging zone between 7am and 6pm Monday to Friday pay an £8 daily charge.

There have been a number of benefits: traffic entering the original charging zone is 16 per cent lower than pre-charge levels in 2002 (70,000 fewer cars a day); there has been an eight per cent reduction in congestion, six per cent increase in bus passengers, an increase in cycle journeys and a 16% reduction in CO2 emissions.

In financial terms, £137m was raised in 2007/08 and invested back into improving transport in London.

Tags: transport, cities and towns