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Why can't the London Congestion Charge be automated?
I have just heard on Radio 5 a very interesting fact about Ken Livingstone’s London Congestion Charge. The programme alleged that the whole scheme is now running at a loss, and even the amount of fines the council now collect from motorists, who forget to pay the charge, is rapidly reducing. It would appear the recession has taught motorists not to get fined. The programme alleged that the profits come from the fines and not from the actual charge.
BBC Top Gear wanted to make a feature of the Congestion Charge and what a financial disaster it has become. The bosses at the BBC decided to shelve any criticism of Ken Livingstone and the Congestion Charge because of the then imminent Mayoral elections, and any prejudicial affect it may have had on Livingstone's election campaign.
It would seem that all Ken Livingstone, did was to create masses of jobs for people collecting this congestion charge. Its typical of Labour politicians to generate non-productive, loss-making schemes that create jobs for council employees
BBC Top Gear wanted to make a feature of the Congestion Charge and what a financial disaster it has become. The bosses at the BBC decided to shelve any criticism of Ken Livingstone and the Congestion Charge because of the then imminent Mayoral elections, and any prejudicial affect it may have had on Livingstone's election campaign.
It would seem that all Ken Livingstone, did was to create masses of jobs for people collecting this congestion charge. Its typical of Labour politicians to generate non-productive, loss-making schemes that create jobs for council employees
Asked on 6 September 2012 by LD, Holmbury St Mary, Surrey.
Answered by
Honest John
That always was the scandal. They deliberately made the Congestion Charge difficult to pay in order to gain a greater income from fines for non-payment. When Ken was asked in a radio interview why car number plates could not simply be registered against credit cards so the charge was deducted automatically, he came up with a load of cobblers about 'technically impossible'. So a smarter chap invented a gizmo called the 'Kenbuster' that paid the charge from your card automatically whenever you entered the zone.
Tags:
london congestion charge
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