from today, the congestion charge extension starts…
don’t get caught out…
yup so there going to squash all the traffic down park lane… nice…
Another well thought out plan by that w@nker Ken Livingstone.
Great! My ride in should be a little quieter then 
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Excellent, I’m sure this will be as successful as the farce that was the original congestion charge zone!!
Once this is in full swing and his new tram on Uxbridge Road is up and running, I’m sure Ken will become possibly the most hated man in the UK!
Actually my worry is that there’ll be shed loads more badly trained, inexperienced scooter riders on the road - barging our bikes out of bike bays and havings lots of accidents…
http://londonbikers.com/story/6ec2edf3-b6c7-4240-8826-6270cc2f190f
I found park ln fairly quiet this morning more so than normal. Then again i was blasting down there about 7:15. Can’t wait for the end of the day i’m gonna watch Hot Fuzz!
seen hot fuzz…
really good, worth watching!.
My colleague has just raised a very good point worth sharing about this extended congestion charge.
So, if you live in the congestion charge zone you get a 90% discount right? So that now means they are MORE people who can travel into central London, only paying 10% of the cost of the charge. Considering that this are residents of Chelsea, Fulham etc, plenty of owners of unenvironmentally friendly Discos, Range Rovers etc this seems totally counter-productive. 
Is my colleague wrong or is this in fact now the case???
The reason it was quieter this morning was probably due to the schools being on half term this week.
I seem to remember that when the original congestion charge was brought in, they did the same and started it at the start of a school half term week. It makes the charge look like it’s working cos for the first week or so the roads are quieter due to the half term holiday then by the time the schools are back and the traffic is up to its normal levels again, lots of people have forgotten how busy it was before the schools went on holiday so it looks like Kens bright idea has worked!
With the zone extended there are a lot more people who are entitled to a discount. Also certain streets on the edge of the zone are entitled to the discount too…
All that will happen is that the roads around the zone are going to get even worse…
So another congestion charge extension will no doubt be mooted soon…
Yes it’s definitely the case…
http://londonbikers.com/story/6ec2edf3-b6c7-4240-8826-6270cc2f190f
The locals are saying that it will only increase the congestion in central london… my concern is the number of novice riders we’re about to see on the road to avoid the charge.
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You wait and see, it wont be long before they ‘Zone’ it like the tubes, having different £ for inner and outer… they’ll see the big increase in people from the new zone driving into the centre, after all, who in their right mind will leave their car at home and pop into town shopping when they can now drive.
What gets me is the fact that even if you dont want to go into the zone, at Holland Road due to no right turns you have to take a left taking you around a one way, that takes you right on the edge of it making you have to drive across one road… costing you £8. This is going to push much more traffic onto Shepherds Bush Green causing a headache to an already very congested area.
Same problem at the top of North Kensington…one road that I usually take from a to b is now in the zone making me have to go all the way up Scrubs Lane to fight with the traffic to head back down the Harrow Road.
This isn’t going to save the ozone… we are being pushed further afield making journeys longer, polluting the air 
but lining KLs pocket in the mean time.
Oh and don’t get me started on the Tram crap… our local MPs are dead against it, so are most of the residents but KL wont listen. If it does go ahead I can’t wait to see the grid lock that will be caused when the sewers, water mains, gas mains etc decide to open up in Acton. A Tram can’t be diverted like the buses have over the last god knows how many years.
well i wonder how long it will be before the ZONE EXTENDS TO THE M25 PERIMETER it wont be long folks !
Good story Matt! I love the concept of the CC, but the implementation leaves a lot to be desired. I fear for the day when KL will start charging all two-wheeled vehicles, i.e. scrapping our exemption. Now that would be a VERY bad day. What would happen???
There is no way he can make money from charging bikes as the technology was never designed to record them and would cost too much to change things round now. If there was any idea of doing this, the new cameras for the extension would not be front facing like the old ones.
As a commuter myself, bike and public transport, since the congestion charging was introduced, I haven’t seen one improvement. So where is the money going…where does Livingston live again ? 
I did see some idiot stop and reverse at a main set of traffic lights (that were on green) to try and get over to a road that led around the Zone, outside Tower Hill in rush hour, what a complete f’wit.
exactly!.
I’m sure that’s already being discussed by KL.
all these ideas hey?..just a matter of time.
I’ve been thinking about the congestion charge today after seeing the bit about it on the lunchtime news and I’ve came to a rather strange conclusion!
It’s impossible for the congestion charge to actually work and do what it’s supposed to…
For the charge to work, it needs to reduce the amount of traffic traveling into London, but if it does this effectively there won’t be enough people paying the charge to cover the costs involved with running the scheme. Therefore the only way the charge can be viable financially is if it doesn’t work ie. if it doesn’t reduce the amount of traffic and people just carry on driving as normal and cough up for the charge!
i have a 90% discount?..