Thousands of Londoners have told the London Assembly their views
on a future road charging scheme in London.
The London Assembly Transport Committee has
today published its report – ‘Future Road User Charging in
London’ – following a two-part investigation in the 2022-23
Assembly term.
The report recommends that should any future Mayor or government
decide to introduce a future road user charging scheme in London,
all potential revenue generated must be assigned to a programme
of early improvements to public transport in London, with a
significant proportion delivered ahead of introduction.
A Committee Call for Evidence received over 3,300 responses from
both individuals and organisations, the highest number of
responses to any London Assembly Call for Evidence in the 2022-23
Assembly term. It identified significant concerns about the
prospect of any new scheme and that privacy concerns and the
provision of alternative transport to driving should be key
considerations.
Road user charging, also known as congestion charging, road
pricing or smart road charging, describes broadly any process
whereby motorists are required to pay for driving on public
roads.
The investigation focused on examining the practical issues
around the potential introduction of a future new, smarter road
user charging scheme in London. It did not seek to find consensus
between the cross-party members of the Committee on whether or
not a new road user charging scheme should be introduced in
London, or what any scheme might look like.
The first meeting – held in December 2022 - saw the
Committee speak with experts, campaigners and
road user groups, with the second meeting – held in February 2023
- focused on policy makers and advisers. Given the
importance of this topic to Londoners, the
Committeepublished the Call for Evidence as part
of its investigation, which was open to anyone who wished to
respond and submit evidence from 9 February 2023 until 10 March
2023.
The Committee’s report has 11 recommendations
for the Mayor and government. These include:
- A key principle any future Mayor or government who wished to
introduce a new, smart road user charging scheme needs to
consider is that using it should be as simple as possible.
- If any future Mayor or government wants to further develop a
possible future road user charging scheme in London, they should
at a very early stage ensure there is a working group that
includes representatives from all relevant stakeholders that will
demographically and geographically represent Londoners.
- All potential revenue generated must be assigned to a
programme of early improvements to public transport in London,
with a significant proportion delivered ahead of introduction.
These improvements could be financed by a loan based on
anticipated income from a scheme.
- Before any future road user charging scheme is considered, by
any future Mayor or government, there should be an open, early,
wide and well-publicised public engagement exercise, allowing
people to give their views on next steps and shape any scheme
design from the very start.
Siân Berry AM, Chair of the London
Assembly Transport Committee throughout the
investigation, said:
“This report does not seek to find cross-party consensus on
whether or not a smarter road user charging scheme should be
introduced in London, or what any scheme might look like.
“Instead, our Committee aimed to explore and present the
issues that would need to be considered as part of the
development of any future scheme alongside recommendations to any
future Mayor or government, that was to consider introducing a
new scheme.
“The huge reaction we received to our Call for Evidence -
over 3,300 responses received - highlights the interest Londoners
have in this topic, and the Committee is grateful for all of the
feedback given.
“The Mayor has broad powers to introduce a range of new
charging schemes, as does the national government.
“While the current Mayor has made clear that there are no
plans in the immediate term for new road user charging schemes in
London, it is vital that the Assembly outlines how the key
findings of our investigation will help shape any future work on
this issue within the City Hall.
“There is much that any future Mayor or government can learn
from our recommendations if they were to consider one day
exploring this idea.”
Notes for editors:
- TfL, Road User Charging
- Please find the report attached.
