To think we need a congestion charge in every major city?

[impossiblecat]

The traffic is getting insane.

It's dangerous and bad for everyone's health.

With the exception of the disabled and people who live within the limits of said congestion zone, obviously.

I'd have all money raised ploughed into public transport.

Manchester, Sheffield, Leeds, Birmingham, Newcastle, Edinburgh, Cardiff, Swansea, York, Oxford etc

Sheffield city centre, outside of Christmas time, is struggling. You only have to see the number of empty shops, and the types of shops now there.

The parking in the city is already ridiculously higher and pushing more and more people out to places like Meadowhall. Sheffield has never really recovered much since the centre opened. It started to, but then the parking charges just kept rising and people now just go back to places like Meadowhall where they can park for free.

The bus fares are also pretty expensive - costs us almost £5 return each for a 4 mile journey into the centre. I can get a taxi cheaper if it I'm not travelling alone! Or just drive to Meadowhall and park for free.

This weekend it was lovely to see the city centre actually busy - the Christmas market makes a big difference. To be fair though, it wasn't difficult driving in at all - the roads weren't bad in the slightest on Saturday afternoon. And there was plenty of parking remaining too.

Sheffield seems busy in the evenings, but again - they are not the car drivers.

IME the congested roads in Sheffield are not the city centre ones.

In London it’s not made traffic any less. In fact since there are a zillion bloody Uber’s and there is ongoing work to narrow/close roads in the favour of cycle lanes, traffic is merrily sitting in awful jams causing more pollution than before.

This does sound impossible. What city is it?!

It's not a city, it's two towns in Cumbria. There is just no direct link between the two. I've just looked online at public transport options to get me to work tomorrow.

By train: I'd need to be up to catch the train from my hometown (A) at 6.10am. That would involve leaving home at 5.45am to get to the station on time (walking) or 5.55am (cycling). Then, there'd be three changes. I'd then arrive in town B (not where I work) at 8.50am. I'd then need to wait for 30 minutes to get the bus to town C, arriving to work 10 minutes late.

I finish work at 6pm, however the earliest train would be at 7pm, getting me home (again, after three changes and a walk/cycle) at 10pm. I've already described the journey by bus! It's just not workable.

I drive the journey (24 miles) and it takes me about 45 minutes. I can leave home as late as 8.45am and I get home by 7pm. If the "quicker" mountain route is closed in winter, it still only takes me an hour. It costs me less than £30 a week in diesel. A single train ticket is £29.90!

Reduce traffic so that the high street is clean, pleasant and safe for all, this will increase the numbers of pedestrians and cyclists doing their shopping locally. Car drivers mostly go to big supermarkets anyway and don't spend much in town centres.

This is a really common misconception. In areas where cars have been banned, high streets have been revitalised. Most high street shoppers do not come by car.

Well my own experience is that I do go by car, and I won't go if there is a congestion car, as I don't go much because of parking costs. So I will spend more online because it's more convenient and cheaper

Also, i live on the south coast, 15 miles from work, in the car? 30 mins, train? Over an hour with changes, and using southern rail (which ever one it is run by) is so unreliable it's impossible to rely on, in fact, our school choice was heavily influenced by transport options and where wasn't a train journey

link to studies showing reduced car use doesn't harm the high street

www.citylab.com/solutions/2015/03/the-complete-business-case-for-converting-street-parking-into-bike-lanes/387595/

As a someone from the home counties, I can pay £9 a day for parking and £7,000 a year to stand on a packed train to London for an hour. Or I could drive.

I’ve only been into London about 5 times since they introduced the congestion charge, except for work (train, chargeable).
I used to shop there all the time. It’s all the “remember to pay or it triples if you forget, they don’t remind you, and you end up with a bailiff at the door” rubbish. Not worth the stress.
The same for Bath. I haven’t been back since they changed the one way system to discourage drivers.
So congestion charges are fine if you don’t need Uk visitors to keep your city centre alive.
Alternatively, provide a frequent & low cost park & ride, that doesn’t stop at 6pm.

Well my own experience is that I do go by car, and I won't go if there is a congestion car, as I don't go much because of parking costs. So I will spend more online because it's more convenient and cheaper

Well that's fine, because the evidence shows that overall the high street will be better off without cars, and I'd still put clean air as a priority over one person's wish to use their car.

Congestion charge hasn't helped in London. Still rammed though God only knows what it would be like without the charge. And Oxford Street in particular is still ghastly. Cuts years off your life. One day it will be pedestrianised and the shops will love it because the crowds will still come.

Without customers there will be no high streets. They are dying. It's not just one person either is it. It's all those who can't afford public transport,parking and CC. They limit city trips as poss as we do.

In London - it's definitely needed. But I think people rich enough to live in zone 1 shouldn't get a discount.

What about fewer people in the country. There has been a population rise of several million. Why do we always have to pay more. You do realise that it is just another way of taxing and controlling the population. Agenda 21 anyone. Whilst the VIPs go around without any difficulty.

People who don't drive will still go where they go, some people who drive may change, but a lot of people who currently drive will stop going and spend online

Bugger off - I live in zone 1. There are 3 hostels within spitting distance. Yeah we’re all living off facial and peacocks tongues.

The CC is a pain in the arse when you live in it.

No adaline I did not mean people who live in more isolated areas. I am talking about areas where cycling is a viable option.

Lord prof - The cc is not a pain if you don't drive

Not everyone in zone 1 is rich. Many people in zone 1 are living below poverty. One of the boroughs was the first to recognise this years ago when they first introduced free school meals for all primary school kids. Food banks are rife. Hostels are everywhere. Homelessness everywhere and it's getting worse this year, I have never come across so many homeless nearby as I am now.

If you live in zone 1 you don't really need a car

CC is can still be a pain for none drivers.
I have had taxi companies trying to put a surcharge on to drop me home because I live in the CC. Takeaways who want to charge a delivery fee because I live in the CC area.
When CC was first introduced, I had lots of arguments with companies who wanted to charge extra to come in the CC even out of hours.

And if you live in zone 1 for example with mobility problems?
Or you drive for a living?

A congestion charge as in London will reduce traffic, but it will only be putting the clock back a few years. If you have one, it should be more selective, have only one place to pay for anywhere that has one, and you need some stringent privacy controls over information.

Personally I would be looking to reduce traffic by stricter motoring laws (take c25% of licences away for health or conduct reasons), incentives for walking and cycling short distances, and spreading the peak travel times. Schools starting at 830am or 915am not 9am would be a start, as would not putting the clocks back in winter.

Or have to get shopping and don’t do online delivery. We don’t have huge Asda’s on the doorstep - you cant do a weekly shop in a Tesco Metro (or afford to).

The city of Bath is proposing this because the air is filthy. It’s a tricky one. Doesn’t seem fair to hit people that have to drive throught to get to work in an area that has terrible public transport (as pretty much the whole of the West Country does) but I think people have their heads in the sand about the damage this level of pollution does to their health. It’s a problem we can’t see so people are happy to ignore it.

www.theguardian.com/politics/2018/nov/25/bath-residents-resent-congestion-charge-tackle-pollution-nitrogen-dioxide

It hasn't reduced traffic. Traffic within the congestion zone has risen. It was discussed by the transport committee last year and a number of ways suggested to try and reduce traffic. Why? Because it's crept back up.
By discouraging cars into areas more people shop online. So the issue is still there. Plus the original drivers keep their cars for other purposes like travelling to Bluewater etc.
A traffic reduction method has also seen the implementation of 20mph in some boroughs. Still hasn't reduced the number of vehicles.

I live about forty miles from three cities. One takes 80 mins by train, one 100 mins and one which would normally take about 50 mins by train hasn't had any trains running on a Saturday for months due to the South West Rail strike so driving is the only choice. These sweeping statements are almost always made by city dwellers who have no idea what it is like to live in a more rural location.

Everyone was convinced that London would grind to a halt- it didn't.

Have you somehow missed all the train issues that have been on the news for the last year or so ?

Birmingham is introducing a 'Clean Air Zone' next year.
Snag is, they haven't offered viable alternatives.
Some newer 'planned towns' have by-passes and ring roads. The ring roads in Birmingham are actually where people live. They are already congested (the inner ring road just crawls during rush hour). There are main cross country roads that cross right through the City Centre. The cross City (train) line doesn't have enough carriages on the trains. Round the outskirts of the City (for people passing through) we have a network of motorways - all of which are overcrowded and constantly being brought to a standstill with one incident after another.

As others have said, it is a MASSIVE difference during school holidays.
Birmingham is an incredibly 'young' City - which not only means lots of young people and you adults, but that, in itself leads to lots of lots of new children being born and rapid population growth.
Slapping a charge onto cars that have to drive through the City, or into the City Centre doesn't tackle any of these problems - it just means those with older cars (ie not the richer folk, but those with less money) then get another tax, or are prevented from going about their lives because of the cost.
It just hasn't been thought out.

I love the idea of cleaner air / less pollution, but slapping a tax on cars passing into a central zone doesn't tackle the issues. It;s like buying a homeless person a coffee and thinking you are in any way resolving the massively complex issues around homelessness.