London’s Congestion Charge To Rise 30% next Month
Transport for London (TfL) has been hit by a 90% reduction in fare prices. Shadiq Khan, Mayor of London states those who live in London are now paying the price. The congestion charge for those traveling into London will increase by 30% as of next month and now will be enforced 7 days a week, instead of just weekdays.
On the Rise
The charge will rise from £11.50 a day to £15 and will come into effect 22nd June. In addition to this hours of operation are also being extended to 7am to 10pm. The tariff was waived when lockdown was first announced. This made sense as the vast majority of people living in or around the Capital were working from home and were only travelling for essential reasons.
The mayor’s office states that the increase will ‘’ encourage Londoners not to make unnecessary car journeys, and is expected to reduce journeys within the congestion charge by a third’’.
However, the original congestion charge was reintroduced early this week on Monday 18th May. The ULEZ (Ultra Low Emission Zone) has also been reintroduced on the same day.
Government Bailout
Additionally the government has confirmed a £1.6bn bailout of Transport of London. This is to increase the levels in public transport services.
Mr Khan said: “COVID-19 poses the biggest challenge to London’s public transport network in TfL’s history. It will take a monumental effort from all Londoners to maintain safe social distancing on public transport as lockdown restrictions are gradually eased.
“That means we have to keep the number of people using public transport as low as possible. And we can’t see journeys formerly taken on public transport replaced with car usage because our roads would immediately become unusably blocked and toxic air pollution would soar.
“I ask that Londoners do not use public transport unless it is absolutely unavoidable – it must be a last resort. If you can work from home you should continue to do so. We should all spend more of our leisure time in our local areas too.
“We will need many more Londoners to walk and cycle to make this work. That’s why these plans will transform parts of central London to create one of the largest car-free areas in any capital city in the world.”
The current congestion charge reimbursement scheme for NHS and care home workers will be temporarily extended by the TfL.
However, it has introduced other temporary measures such as stopping free travel for children and only allowing people over 60 or with a disability to travel for free outside peak hours.
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