There are a few goals for congestion taxes, though none more prominent in the debate than to reduce vehicular congestion. But what if it does not accomplish this goal, but only raises your tax burden with no benefits? That’s the predicament Londoners are outraged about, according to a BBC report.
In an article dated November 23, 2007, the BBC reports that despite the doubling of London’s Congestion Charge zone and nearly doubling the daily fee, actual traffic congestion has gone back to pre-charge 2002 levels, from 2.3 min/km of delay in 2002 to 2.27 min/km of delay in 2006. There are signs of a general upward trend, as well, since the government official in the article states that 2006 saw an increase in the number of commuters driving into the Tax Zone.
A closer look at Transport for London’s Fifth Annaul Impacts Monitoring Report released in July 2007 reveals that, at peak rush hours, congestion has in fact almost remained unchanged (thanks to Stephen Bauman for pointing this out).
Moreover, looking at the average number of minutes it takes to travel a kilometer, the excess delay has risen back to 2002 levels, before London’s tax began.
The report attributes this delay mostly to road repair and construction, in addition to other transportation “improvements” like bike lanes, that reduce the overall capacity of the roadway for regular vehicular traffic. Though, again, the number of motorists driving into the zone increased in 2006, as the article reports.
While it sounds terribly absurd that people are paying almost $4,000 extra a year to drive only to be stuck in the same traffic when they paid nothing, then look at these statistics.
In analyzing the graph in Figure 3.1, the annual average number of minutes to drive a kilometer in the zone are as follows:
- 2002: 4.40 minutes/km
- 2003: 3.50 minutes/km
- 2004: 3.50 minutes/km
- 2005: 3.75 minutes/km
- 2006: 4.00 minutes/km
Between 2003 and 2005, the daily charge was £5 ($10), which, assuming 240 workdays, comes out to $2,400 a year. In 2005, the charge was increased to £8 ($16), or $3,840 a year. Let’s see what drivers are getting for their money.
Take a drive the distance of Flatbush in Brooklyn to Chelsea in Manhattan, which is approximately a 9-mile trip, or about 14 kilometers. In London, here’s the travel time to make that trip by car and how much you would be getting for every minute saved as a result of the tax.
In 2006, the whopping $3,840 a year that you would be paying only saves you 5 MINUTES compared to the trip before the congestion tax. For each minute you saved in 2006, you had to pay $700 per minute for that result, something which you could get for free based on choosing a smarter route, or based on daily variations in traffic conditions. Furthermore, if Transport for London is correct that construction is the primary cause for the congestion, that means government is creating conditions where the money that you’re paying to reduce congestion does nothing to improve traffic. Typical government behavior.
Just yet another reason why New Yorkers should do everything they can to keep this tax from plaguing our great city!