It *so* was. Fear of a pressure group who were never going to vote Labour.
What’s the point of having considerable political capital if they’re too frightened to actually use it?
Mind you, they’re still cringing about the GM #CongestionCharge referendum…
Die Rechnung für den #Autofahrer in #London fand ich besonders spannend. Die Infos zur #CongestionCharge könnten Teile der #Berliner Politik verunsichern. 🤔
Meanwhile in Greater Manchester #CongestionCharge
Maybe if the #CongestionCharge had kept pace with inflation, buses would have less of a problem?
The #CongestionCharge referendum casts a long shadow.
We should just do it and make the fee more than a 1-day tram travel card.
Picture of congestion charge sign... Oxford bus operators enhance services following congestion charge Deniz Huseyin 19 February 2026 Oxford’s temporary congestion charge and free travel on park & ride have improved bus service reliability, report Oxford Bus Company and Thames Travel. As a result of improved reliability, the bus operators said they are introducing more services on key routes across the south of the county, creating faster journey times to Oxford from Reading, Wallingford and Benson. The new timetables, which will start on 22 February, will further improve punctuality and reliability across large parts of the network, said the bus operators. Oxfordshire County Council introduced the congestion charge scheme in October 2025 to reduce congestion in Oxford while Botley Road is closed, which has delayed the start of a trial of camera-enforced traffic filters (LTT922). The Botley Road scheme, which is part of the £161m Oxford Station Enhancements Project, has been delayed by a range of problems including the unearthing of a Victorian brick archway on the site. The congestion charge was designed to improve bus services and make it easier for those with permits such as community health and care workers, carers, Blue Badge holders, and mobile traders, to travel by car into and around Oxford. Those without a permit have to pay a daily charge of £5 to go through six charge locations on roads in Oxford. The scheme is enforced using automatic number plate recognition cameras (ANPR) positioned at six locations. The congestion charge will remain in place until the introduction of the traffic filters trial once Botley Road reopens, expected to be August 2026, said the council. The maximum time the congestion charge scheme will be in place as a temporary measure is two years, it added. In conjunction with the congestion charge, the county council introduced free park and ride bus journeys in Oxford. Luke Marion, Oxford Bus Company and Thames Travel Man…
👍🚌 #Bus services improve due to #CongestionCharge
-> www.transportxtra.com/publications...
via @transportxtra.bsky.social
@edi.bike @edinburghbug.bsky.social @stephenjenkinson.bsky.social @lothianbuses.bsky.social @transform.scot @sw20.info @alastairdalton.bsky.social @staceyoflaherty.bsky.social
"PUPILS KEEN TO PUT THE COST OF TRAFFIC BACK ON MOTORISTS"
#PhilippaMingins for Stratford Observer
A #CongestionCharge for #Stratford has been mooted by a group of award-winning students from #KingEdwardVI.
#StratfordObserver
#TomorrowsPapersToday
#IBPAPERS
The problem is that the carrot alone will only get you so far, ultimately if you want to change behaviour there has to be a bit of stick.
This is why ‘we can’t have a #CongestionCharge until public transport is sorted is a false premise (and also buses will never be reliable without fewer cars)
Fine. Let’s have #CongestionCharge in urban areas where journeys are short (many if not most less than 3 miles) and there *are* public transport options, then.
Promising initial data from the #Oxford - city centre footfall up, city centre traffic and bus journeys down. Yet more evidence that if you want to make #PublicTransport work, it's not if you need a #CongestionCharge but when. We need this in Greater Manchester.
@walkridegm.org.uk
After dropping sales of #ElectricVehicles for several years, some woman from accounts has the idea to introduce #PayPerMile and someone in #London, make people with an #EV pay the #CongestionCharge
Turns out its idiotic
youtu.be/YeRk0_cT-Vk?...
The original plan for the GM #CongestionCharge was that it was going to be inside the M60 which covers a lot of residential areas. It would have been an easier sell if it had been the city centre only (inside the inner ring road?) but at the time MCC was too dependent on "mobility hub" income.
I have to disagree there - firstly, the context here is people driving into the city to shop, not work, and secondly, e.g. buses will never be reliable or attractive if they are stuck in traffic jams. Sooner or later you just need to put the #CongestionCharge in place.
You need more than bus lanes.
As #Oxford is currently demonstrating, the only way to make buses run on time is to reduce the number of cars on the road and this needs a stick as well as a carrot. The £5 #CongestionCharge there is enough to make people think twice about taking the car.
People in traffic jams are not contributing to economic activity.
We need political leadership to face down the likes of RethinkGM and bring in the #CongestionCharge that Manchester so desperately needs.
It's *exactly* like we need some kind of #CongestionCharge but political cowardice in the face of Valid Concerns from Hard Working Motorists and all that.
I suspect that massive congestion is impeding economic activity in the city as well as its effect on health etc.
It is, *but* it’s a behaviour change measure rather than directly a revenue raising one, which is a valid use of tax policy.
Same applies to e.g. #CongestionCharge
Also to be fair to him, the disastrous #CongestionCharge ref (which not only made it hard to bring one in in GM, but also everywhere else too) was before his time.
The #CleanAirZone is a clear case of 'differently' not being a synonym for 'better'.
The refusal to put in either a #CongestionCharge or a #CleanAirZone, even if these were just within the inner ring road is a total failure of political courage in GM.
Mind you, the ones in London haven’t kept up with inflation so have become less effective & it’s good to see that being considered.
More evidence that carrot and no stick does nothing to encourage #ModalShift. Greater Manchester’s politicians need to be braver and bring in the #CleanAirZone and #CongestionCharge the city so desperately needs
Right on cue - and it’ll rise in line with public transport fares. This is the right decision #CongestionCharge
Pleased @mayoroflondon.bsky.social listened to our campaign to keep #CongestionCharge discount for electric vans but 50% is still troubling for SMEs & charities given costs. Cars are the traffic issue. I spoke with @lbc.co.uk...
#ElectricVans #CleanAir #London #SmallBusiness #UrbanFreight #Climate
There's no point in having loads of political capital if people are too scared to use it, but as we've seen with the #CleanAirZone Manchester politicians are still cringing about the #CongestionCharge referendum.
Still, we do things differently here @walkridegm.org.uk
One thing was clear from my day-trip to London on Tue - given the number of private cars in Zone 1, in the city with far and away the best public transport in the UK, the #CongestionCharge is neither broad nor expensive enough.
You'd have to wonder a) what proportion of people staying in a city centre hotel come by car and b) what proportion of people paying for a luxury hotel are actually going to complain about a £5 #CongestionCharge
Twelve easy hacks to beat #Oxford’s #congestionCharge
oxfordclarion.uk/twelve-easy-hacks-to-bea...
#traffic #transport #cities #sustainability #cycling #walking #PublicTransport
The people being interviewed on North West Tonight about the cheaper #GreaterManchester train fares who said they’d carry on driving because that’s what they’ve always done are exactly why we need a #CongestionCharge
(I’d bet the couple in question could P&R on the bus free…)
The #Oxford #CongestionCharge is already having a positive effect because its political leaders had the bravery to see it through. The evidence is that this works & make public transport more attractive. All councils should have powers to implement congestion charging @walkridegm.org.uk
No.
See Talinn.
Invest in reliable service.
Lower, simpler fares yes, free no.
archive.strongtowns.org/journal/2023...
#congestioncharge #speirgorm #busconnects
