London congestion zone - big changes, please read

trinidadone

Hi all,

We have some big changes being introduced concerning Londons Congestion Charge.

Western extention has gone!!
London Major, Boris Johnson removed the western extention on the 24th December 2010. The means drivers will no longer be charged to drive on streets west of Edgware Road, Park Lane and Vauxhall Bridge Road in central london.

Daily increase from £8.00 to £10.00
As from Tuesday 4th January 2011, the Congestion Charge will increase froml£8.00 per day to £10.00 per day.

Paying the day after increases.
From Tuesday 4th January 2011, anyone paying the charge the day after they have used the zone, will now be charged £12.00 instead of £10.00 per day.

New Automatic payment system - say good buy to fines
Drivers can now register a debit or credit card with the Congestion Zone. Drivers will be charged £9.00 per day instead of £10.00. The money will be deducted on a monthly bases - ideal if you are one of those who forget to pay.

for more information, read the BBC news:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-12107938

bigjl

Or buy a Prius, surely one very good reason to own one, though they are very reliable and handle huge mileages, but no CC, oh, yes bring it on.

newfoundglory

And Labour's candidate for London mayor, Ken Livingstone, who introduced the western extension, said there was "no financial sense" in cutting the zone and losing £50m in revenue at a time of widespread cuts.

:rotfl::rotfl:

It just goes to show, it never really was about being "green" or reducing congestion was it Ken?

I don't vote in elections, but i'm glad we got rid of Ken at the last.

Good on Boris for actually sticking to his word, very rare for a politician to actually act in the interest of the voters!!

flyingscotno1

bigjl wrote: »

Or buy a Prius, surely one very good reason to own one, though they are very reliable and handle huge mileages, but no CC, oh, yes bring it on.

Or the Auris Hybrid which was a nicer car for me.

PsiDOC

Any petrol car with an LPG conversion qualifies as well. when you apply to TfL for an exemption certificate you enclose the certificate of installation for the LPG conversion. Done and dusted.

joolsybools

Or a bike

Kite2010

PsiDOC wrote: »

Any petrol car with an LPG conversion qualifies as well. when you apply to TfL for an exemption certificate you enclose the certificate of installation for the LPG conversion. Done and dusted.

I don't believe so anymore, to get the "Green Vehicle Discount" of 100%, it's a vehicle which meets Euro 5 standards and have CO2 emissions of 100g/km or less.

Doozergirl

bigjl wrote: »

Or buy a Prius, surely one very good reason to own one, though they are very reliable and handle huge mileages, but no CC, oh, yes bring it on.

Yes. Most of us don't live in London but I will buy the world's ugliest car so I can save about £30 a year on the CC. Some of us don't need to drive there often and the reduction for me now means we don't need to do it at all, I don't think.

Thanks OP for the heads up.

Keith

I hope they kept the old signs.

10JH

Big list of congestion charge free cars here - Congestion Charge Exempt cars

Cheapest exempt car from £8,900. Potential saving of £2,500 a year for being exempt!

zagubov

PsiDOC wrote: »

Any petrol car with an LPG conversion qualifies as well. when you apply to TfL for an exemption certificate you enclose the certificate of installation for the LPG conversion. Done and dusted.

Has that been improved? When I checked (admittedly a few years back) tfl had a list of which LPG converters were allowed to convert which makes of cars and it was very very restrictive ( there were five that could convert a nissan and they were in NI, Cornwall etc.) and they had to use certain approved conversion kits which in some cases were no longer available.

In one case my nearest converter (up in the Midlands I think) could convert using a substitute kit but weren't confident tfl would accept the certificate. Tfl were v. vague at answering queries on this and seemed to contradict themselves, making me very wary.

To top it all, there was no guarantee the exemption would last more than one year. I'd recommend anyone thinking of converting should check this out before handing over their hard earned cash, particularly if avoiding the cc is a main aim of the switch.
Put me off the whole idea.