Road pricing is the third rail of British politics. It ranks alongside local property taxation (regular reminder that Council tax bands in England are still based on property values from April 1991) and inadvertently hosting a series of boozy parties in Downing Street during lockdown.
At present, motorists pay for the privilege of driving their cars in the form of Vehicle Excise Duty and Fuel Duty. Trouble is, neither of these fully take into account the negative externality generated by cars, especially in a city like London.
These include: congestion (which is estimated to cost the capital’s economy £5.1bn a year, or £1,211 per driver), air pollution (in 2019, linked to 4,000 deaths in the city), and climate change.
Londoners of course must also navigate the recently extended Ulez as well as the congestion charge. But, given that every part of the capital suffers from air quality levels below WHO guidelines, and the Mayor has a 2030 net-zero target to hit, more needs to be done.
Today, Sadiq Khan has trailed a series of proposals to help rid the city of toxic air (and bring in a little cash). As our City Hall Editor Ross Lydall reports, these include a daily levy of up to £2 to drive a petrol or diesel car in London, expanding the Ulez further still, and a Greater London boundary charge.
Introducing full-on road pricing – with costs per mile that fluctuate depending on the time of day and which roads you use – is fiendishly complicated. But radical action is required to cut congestion and carbon emissions, improve air quality and generate the revenue to fund a world-class public transport network.
Khan has been inconsistent at times, and has faced criticism for recently announcing that drivers would no longer have to pay the congestion charge at night. But these proposals are one to watch.
Elsewhere in the paper, Phoebe Luckhurst has the take of the day – Boris Johnson as the world’s worst boss. You know, the type that will let you throw a party but then show up and give you the sack later.
Meanwhile, Simon English has a thought: If we can’t have a proper pay rise, how about a four day week?
And finally, what if I were to tell you we had an entire picture gallery dedicated to Matt Hancock going cold water swimming in the Serpentine?
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