Cardiff Council looks set to consider bringing in a congestion charge. The council's cabinet will discuss a number of road payment schemes aimed at improving air quality and reducing congestion in the city at a meeting on Thursday, April 27.
These schemes include but are not limited to road user payments, congestion zones, clean air zones and workplace parking charges. A number of initiatives including £1 bus fares and the Cardiff Central to Pierhead Station tram would be implemented before any road user payment, which would not be estimated to happen until 2027 subject to approvals and law changes in Wales.
The leader of Cardiff Council, Cllr Huw Thomas, said: "We know our residents want action on climate change and they want the air their children and their loved ones breathe to be cleaner. We know residents want to see electric buses and taxis serve the city, to have new train/tram links and stations, to drive on better maintained roads, with safe cycling and walking routes.
Have your say on the congestion charge in our poll.
Read more: Cardiff's Castle Street set to remain open to all traffic
"We know they see the queues of traffic and know the damage this is causing to their health and the environment, whilst also strangling the city’s economy. It’s clear that action is needed if we are going to change the dial on this.
"Reducing these figures will require us to look at the way we live and the way we travel. Cardiff needs and deserves a cleaner and a greener transport system. However, funding this will likely only be possible by the introduction of some form of low-cost road user payment which would have exemptions for those least able to pay."
Cardiff Council said the project work will consider any local users that may need to be exempt, reimbursed, or who may qualify for discounts. The authority has also said that money raised through any scheme would likely go towards improving public transport in the city.
Working in partnership with Welsh Government and using grant funding and borrowing on future income from the scheme, the following initiatives could be available before any road user payment was introduced:
- The introduction of £1 bus fares on key routes
- Better and expanded bus services
- The delivery of the phase 1 tram from Central Station to Pierhead Station in the Bay
- Improvements to regional commuting
Cardiff Council’s Cabinet Member for Transport and Strategic Planning, Cllr Dan De'Ath, said: "Many major UK cities have already taken - or are currently considering - this step. A form of road user payment helps achieve their low carbon, clean air, and transport aims and objectives.
"In consultation with residents, businesses, and commuters, we want to explore how such a payment could provide funds which - when considered as part of wider funding arrangements - could completely transform the transport offer in Cardiff. We want the people of Cardiff to help us build this new future together. People tell us all the time that the public transport system in the city isn’t up to scratch.
"We know this is true, but if we are going to get the transport system we need, then we must find a way of helping to pay for it. At the end of the day, the government isn’t coming forward with all the money required. Right now, we believe we only get 10-15% of the funding we would need to make the changes required.
"So, we want to see if a form of road user payment – ringfenced to fund transport initiatives - could play its part in speedily delivering a clean, green, efficient, and low-cost system for Cardiff, while reducing our over-reliance on cars. But we also know that the public will want to understand the benefits of any road user payment scheme before any regime is introduced. This is why this report clearly states what it wants to see delivered up front and what it can deliver in the future."
Research, planning and public consultation on any potential schemes will take place this year and the implementation of any scheme, subject to approvals, could happen as early as 2027.
READ NEXT:
Trampoline park owner faces jail for failing to report four children broke legs
'I was homeless ten years ago - now I’m building a community village'
'Pizza-obsessed' hoarder house left cleaner 'scarred' and in tears
How hot the Met Office say it will get in Wales with temperatures to soar higher than Turkey
What is happening where you live? Find out by adding your postcode or visit InYourArea
