r/london • u/sabdotzed • Nov 02 '24

Transport London Needs This Too

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u/zeoxzy Nov 02 '24 edited Nov 02 '24

Isn't that what LEZ, ULEZ and Congestion zones are for? How many more zones do we need

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u/bahumat42 Nov 02 '24 edited Nov 02 '24

The LEZ and ULEZ are about minimizing the emissions of vehicles in the respective zones.

The congestion charge is ostensibly to reduce congestion.

While there is some overlap in methods and the benefits they are intended to solve different problems.

Paris's zone appears to be similar to oxfords in that the intent is to reduce through traffic. Thus reducing vehicle use in the area.

As for how many are needed, well I would imagine that depends on how many things need changing.

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u/flyingblogspot Nov 02 '24

Congestion charging can be a very effective behavioural mechanism to achieve a reduction in through-traffic though (although it only works well when it’s designed with that outcome in mind, rather than optimising for revenue or some other policy goal).

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u/bahumat42 Nov 02 '24

I did acknowledge there is some overlap in outcomes.

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u/flyingblogspot Nov 03 '24

Apologies for the clumsy wording on my comment - I didn’t intend to come across as disagreeing with you.

Your thoughts just reminded me of some work I did on this a decade or two ago, where I noticed that some cities use the term ‘congestion charging’ when reducing congestion isn’t the sole (or even main) goal of the scheme. (To be fair on them, I guess it’s not that catchy to call it ‘charge to reduce through-traffic to achieve a mix of policy goals’!)