Lessons from London: What NYC can learn as it becomes 1st city in US with congestion pricing

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

ByJosh Einiger

Monday, June 3, 2024

Lessons from London: What NYC can learn from city's congestion charge

Josh Einiger has more from London.

LONDON (WABC) -- New York will soon become the first city in the nation to implement a congestion pricing program, but it won't be the first around the globe.

Congestion pricing has been in place in Singapore since the 1970s and has helped cut down on traffic -- although Singapore does limit who can own a car.

Stockholm, like New York, saw a public outcry when congestion pricing was first announced in 2006 but opinions quickly changed when the new tolling program reduced traffic by 22%.

And then there's London which saw early success in its program, but two decades after the toll was implemented, traffic has returned to Great Britain's sprawling metropolis.

London is a global center of commerce where 8.9 million people live, it's a city that never sleeps, and a place where people suffer through congested streets and stressful commutes.

It can seem the only difference between New York City and London is the side of the street where traffic crawls along.

Vic Lindsell has driven one of the city's storied black cabs for 25 years.

"Without doubt the typical Londoner sees it as just another tax," Lindsell said. "The average speed of a vehicle in London today is slower than the average speed in London when horse and carts were prevalent."

It wasn't meant to be that way. Two decades ago, London enacted the world's first version of congestion pricing. It's a model that New York traffic planners have lusted after for years.

There, drivers fork over 12 pounds, which is about $15, whenever they pass under overhead cameras on a ring road around Central London.

Now so many years later, it's hard to find much love for the scheme.

"Just another thing they do now, isn't it? Just another tax on the normal working people trying to get to work," said London commuter Mark Richardson.

This is the story of how the so-called congestion charge has transformed one of the world's oldest cities and what New Yorkers are getting themselves into when a similar plan comes to life.

During rush hour near Trafalgar Square, London's version of Union Square, things looked clear for cyclists and pedestrians, but it was a different stories for the drivers.

On one block, cars and buses barely moved as they were stuck behind a single traffic light that turns green just for seven seconds - enough time for just one bus to pass before it turned red again for a full minutes.

And it's designed to be that way.

On a rooftop overlooking central London, Alex Williams, Chief of Customer Experience for Transport for London, explained the method behind the madness.

The monolithic agency manages mass transit and the streets themselves, including 8,000 traffic signals that are digitally linked through a command center where managers can make real-time decisions on how to reduce or increase traffic.

And they always have an eye toward people who are not behind the wheel.

"I don't think you should look at it just through the lens of the driver it needs to be how the city functions," Williams said. "So it's a much more pleasant public realm in the city because it's not dominated by traffic. There's a lot more space for pedestrians and cyclist and a much more pleasant place to be in central London."

The TFL says traffic congestion is Central London, about 13 square miles that make up the zone, is actually down by 33% since the change was instituted in 2003.

But greater London continues to be the most congested city in the world.

The traffic analysis company Inrix found in 2022, the average Londoner lost 156 hours just sitting in traffic. The same survey ranked New York fifth with New Yorkers losing 117 hours in traffic.

In London, TFL admits it isn't trying to speed things up. What planners want is to change people's behavior and drive them underground to a sprawling and sparkling clean subway system.

"It's a carrot and stick really," Williams said. "The stick is the congestion charge that you're doing. The carrot is a much better public transport system to support that."