The Congestion Charge - Red Ken's Cash Cow

[dry suit diver]

Well looks like Ken isn't raising enough revenue from the congestion charge it is going up to £8 a day from July.

[aclivity]

much as I dislike road charging, it has made the centre of London a nicer place to be (if you aren't driving that is!). £8 is a lot, but then compared to the £3 you get charged for 27 miles of empty motorway it doesn't seem too bad?

[Finless]

Originally Posted by dry suit diver

Well looks like Ken isn't raising enough revenue from the congestion charge it is going up to £8 a day from July.

Dou you have to pay this if you have a cold with the blocked nose symptom?

Remember, you are not a salmon

TF for that! I don't fancy rubbing my knob in the gravel in a cold stream!!

[dry suit diver]

yes but the scheme has been succesfull in reducing the amount of cars in town so the revenue is down ,so he puts the price up . I wouldnt mind using public transport but it is a bit hard to carry a full toolkit,ladders, test equipment on public transport it is therefore a tax on the people who make this city work and all this from our socialist champion of the working class.

Th biggest problem is in that 99% of the estates I need to visit are less than 100 yards inside the zone and have off street parking but i am stil charged £8 to drive in the zone for less than 30 seconds each way. One block has its entrance in the zone but is physically outside the zone and its residents are not eligible for a discount so pay £5 per day to access the off street (estate)parking they have to pay the local authority £200 per year for.

A much better solution would be a tagging type system where you are charged for the time and distance you travel in the zone.

[Finless]

Originally Posted by dry suit diver

A much better solution would be a tagging type system where you are charged for the time and distance you travel in the zone.

You get my vote.

[AirHog]

Originally Posted by dry suit diver

A much better solution would be a tagging type system where you are charged for the time and distance you travel in the zone.

A MUCH better solution would be to have reasonably priced public transport that was clean, safe and reliable and free parking at the out of town stations to encourage commuters to use it. That way, it has the potential to pay for itself as more people use it, so revenue can be used to expand it, so more people use it.......<see where this is going>. If all the commuters that drive weren't then the roads would be free for the public transport and service people to go about their business. Ahh, but it wouldn;t raise any money for Ken's "feed a looney" appeal would it.

I got home tonight (on one of the few trains that I get that is regularly there/on time) to see 8-10 "revenue collection agents" (ticket inspectors to you and me) at the station along with 3 police officers. Now, fare dodging is not something I condone but I actually felt like saying to this guy who was reading a young girl her rights to use the credit on my season ticket for the trains that didn't turn up last month with no explanation.

We got a 5% discount last year from a company who missed their targets by 20-25%. I think the train companies should be made to discount repeat season tickets by the amount they miss their targets. See how many choose to run such a shoddy, unclean, overcrowded service then. </rant>

Regards

Mark

[AirHog]

God, that feels better

Regards

Mark

[aclivity]

Originally Posted by AirHog

A MUCH better solution would be to have reasonably priced public transport that was clean, safe and reliable and free parking at the out of town stations to encourage commuters to use it. That way, it has the potential to pay for itself as more people use it, so revenue can be used to expand it, so more people use it.......<see where this is going>. If all the commuters that drive weren't then the roads would be free for the public transport and service people to go about their business. Ahh, but it wouldn;t raise any money for Ken's "feed a looney" appeal would it.

to add to your rant ...

why is that public transport on the mainland seems to, like, work properly, whereas public transport on the island is crap? I've taken trains in capital cities all arond Europe, and generally it is a joy. Not so in London - public transport is poorly managed, overcrowded, overheated and [rant]I HATE it when the train / tube is delayed and the station announcer says "we apologise for your delay" without even an ounce of sincerity or genuine contrition. Sometimes I'd prefer it if they said "your're late, we're crap but frankly I don't give a monkeys as I still get paid whether you get to work / home / that crucial job interview / the birth of your child or not"[/rant]

Now ... breathe ...

Having said that, usually pubic transport is better than driving in London, I really feel for people like Dry Suit Driver who HAVE to use vans / cars in town.

[David]

Originally Posted by dry suit diver

it is therefore a tax on the people who make this city work and all this from our socialist champion of the working class.

A much better solution would be a tagging type system where you are charged for the time and distance you travel in the zone.

If you did that would the working class not have to pay even more



David :-)

[ahar]

Originally Posted by dry suit diver

Well looks like Ken isn't raising enough revenue from the congestion charge it is going up to £8 a day from July.

Well, I didn't bloody vote for him.

The problem I've found with the tube is that when it works it works, but there is no slack in the system at all. Last night the doors broke on our tube train in Wembly Park station so we were all herded off the train. This delayed other trains arriving, so the whole of the met line was then delayed. The platform then got overcrowded, so they closed the platform, thus making it even more delayed. All because one door on a train wouldn't close properly

Still, working at home in London is miles better than hacking around the country like I was before