Lessons from London: How Londoners praise transit upgrades made with money from congestion toll

Two decades ago, London enacted the world's first version of congestion pricing

ByJosh Einiger

Tuesday, June 4, 2024

Lessons from London: How Londoners praise transit upgrades made with money from congestion toll

Josh Einiger has more from London.

LONDON (WABC) -- In some ways, on a weekday morning, rush hour in the London Underground looks a lot like it does, say, on the 6 Train. Train cars heave with straphangers all rushing to get to work, jostling each other, and making a mad dash for the train - every second counts.

In many other ways, the 160-year-old tube - the world's oldest subway system - is a model of modernization for the MTA. Thanks to years of investment in the kind of unsexy infrastructure that allows a train to enter a station - mere seconds after, the preceding one departed. Some lines offer service...30 seconds.

"I think it does the job," says London commuter Shane Waters.

Londoners like Waters say the system - which is clean and quiet and notably safe - also works.

"It makes commuting around London so easy, cause for my job I've got to go a lot of places," Waters says.

It is all a major point of pride for Transport for London.

"It just shows when you invest in high-quality public transport in a city center, passengers will come," said Alex Williams.

Williams is a senior planner for Transport for London, which pumped $2.5 billion raised by the congestion charge directly into the tube underground, the bus network above and streets the buses drive on.

The goal is a more efficient system, even though when the charge began in 2003, Williams admits London was far from ready.

"You know this is a big challenge that's coming to New York. We were in that position 21 years ago," Williams adds.

The new Elizabeth Line is basically London's version of the Second Avenue Subway in that it took forever to build. In this case, they first envisioned it back in the 19th century. After 20 years of construction, it finally opened two years ago, crossing all the way from east to west under the center of London.

It seems impossible for a New Yorker to imagine the 62-mile Elizabeth line, which connects Heathrow Airport with Central London. It did take decades for the Second Avenue subway expansion to add only three stops to the existing Q line, costing nearly five billion dollars in the process.

In London, TFL says this and other improvements have made the tube so efficient - people who used to drive now prefer to take the train.

"It's just so much quicker to maneuver," says Waters.

Waters used to drive hundreds of miles a week for his sales job - and is bitter about the congestion charge. However, he ditched his car and moved closer to the center of London, changing his behavior because of the expense and all of the traffic above. And it played right into TFL's plan.
The rules are no longer all that controversial in London - where people are known for their stiff upper lip. New Yorkers, not so much.

As the MTA takes New York City down this long and gridlocked path, it is far from clear they will reach the same destination as London, which has stood for millennia, and has grudgingly adapted.