This is a sixth annual report describing the impacts of congestion charging in central London. As with previous reports in this series, it provides a summary and interpretation of the growing body of evidence and insight from across the monitoring programme relating to congestion charging in general, and focuses in particular on the first year of operation of the western extension scheme.
Congestion charging was introduced into central London in February 2003, with an £5 daily charge. In July 2005 the standard daily charge was raised from £5 to £8. February 2007 saw the implementation of the western extension to the original central London congestion zone, with associated changes to the scheme operational hours. From 2007, both the original and western extension zones operated as one combined zone, known as the ‘extended central London congestion charging zone’.
The contents of this report reflect the comprehensive programme of monitoring that accompanies TfL’s road user charging schemes. This monitoring covers not only the more immediate traffic and transport impacts of charging, but also the wider social, economic and environmental impacts. It consolidates information from a large number of specially-designed surveys, while making full use of already established surveys and data resources.