On Friday 11th December it was reported that drivers may potentially face a £3.50 daily charge in order to enter Greater London under on-going proposals from the mayor of London to address the capital’s funding crisis after a year-long coronavirus lockdown hampered Transport for London’s ability to raise funds. According to The Guardian, Sadiq Khan has now asked Tfl to start feasibility studies for the plan to raise £500m a year.
The boundary charge would be levied on vehicles registered outside the capital crossing into the whole of London – an area almost 80 times larger than the central congestion zone. An independent review into TfL’s finances suggested that road charging would be the best source of new revenue.
The Mayor said, “Ministers have failed to play fair by Londoners when it comes to financing our world-renowned transport system. It is high time they did so. It is not fair on London that our drivers should subsidise the rest of the country’s roads and get nothing in return.
“We can’t go on expecting public transport fare-payers to subsidise the costs of road maintenance.”
