THE LONDON CONGESTION CHARGING RESEARCH PROGRAMME. 5. ASSESSMENT OF THE IMPACTS

Abstract

This is the fifth of six papers describing work done within the Government Office for London's Congestion Charging Research Programme. The Programme is described in two reports published by HMSO ((1) The London Congestion Charging Research Programme - principle findings, published 1995; (2) The London Congestion Charging Research Programme - final report, published 1995). In this paper a summary of the predicted impacts of congestion charging in London is presented. As noted in the earlier paper on assessment methods (May,AD et al, published in Traffic Engineering and Control 1996 v 34 no. 4 pp 277-282) congestion charging has an unusually wide range of potential impacts. Moreover, it is sufficiently flexible to offer a wide range of design options, whose effects will depend on the complementary measures with which it is combined. The study commenced by considering the strategic impacts which congestion charging would have had had it been implemented in 1991. The tests took two options, a cordon around Central London and the same cordon supplemented by a second around Inner London, as the reference options against which to assess alternative charging options. A limited set of these was then assessed in terms of their potential impact in 2011 (the results of which have not been presented here) and at a more detailed level using the WILTRAM model of Inner West London. Finally, the reference options were tested in conjunction with a set of illustrative complementary strategies.