As of the 27^th of October many individuals driving into London will be facing some serious changes to the prices they pay for the congestion charge.  Ken Livingstone, the Mayor of London, has proposed that cars be charged in accordance with the amount of carbon dioxide which they emit, meaning that larger vehicles, which may be perceived as more damaging to the environment, will pay an increased rate in order to compensate for the pollution they cause.

The new charging system demands that, though most drivers will still pay the usual £8 road toll, the highest polluting vehicles will be asked for a daily rate of £25 in order to enter the congestion charge zone.  In contrast to this, however, those cars with the lowest carbon dioxide emissions will get a 100% discount on the charge as a reward for being more environmentally sound.

Peter Hendy, London’s transport commissioner has asserted that the new charges are likely to bring in around £30million to £50million.  Furthermore, Transport for London has estimated that around 33, 000 vehicles which come into London every day will fall under the £25 charge and approximates that about two-thirds will no longer choose to enter into the charge zone once the new fee is implemented.

Environmentalist groups such as Greenpeace and Friends of the Earth are strongly on the side of the new congestion charge initiative, hoping that it will encourage people to think more about the long term effects of their transport decisions and buy greener vehicles.  Ken Livingstone has echoed such sentiments, commenting that “the CO2 emissions from the most high-powered 4×4s and sports cars can be up to four times as great as the least polluting cars.

However, not everyone has adopted this point of view as it seems that Mr Livingstone’s vilification of the ‘Chelsea tractor’ type vehicle may be ill founded.  Boris Johnson has spoken out against the charge, suggesting that “in effect, the mayor has just given the green light for richer people to buy smaller cars and enter the zone for free while families who struggle with one big car are left feeling the pinch.”  This has been backed by Autocar’s Dan Stevens who has noted that “some really surprising cars will be caught by the £25 charge”.  For instance, whilst a vehicle such as the Vauxhall Vectra (a hatchback/estate car) will be hit with the maximum fee, some 4×4s, such as the BMW X5 3.0d will only be charged the regular £8 toll.

Porsche is also looking to challenge the new charging system on the basis that they are “disproportionate” and will not help to decrease the emissions in central London.  Having written to the mayor expressing their displeasure, the car manufacturer’s next step will be to apply to the courts for an order to cancel the proposal.  Andy Goss, the Managing Director of Porsche GB has spoken out against the scheme, claiming that “a massive congestion charge increase is quite simply unjust.”

Last year Chevrolet carried out a survey in the UK to discover what the demand might be for a device which enables motorists to find their car, once they have left in a large car park. The results showed that one in five drivers misplace their vehicles at least once a month, leading to those individuals spending an average of five hours and thirteen minutes a year looking for their car. Furthermore, one in four of these forgetful motorists have seriously contemplated reporting their vehicle stolen after searching for over an hour, before realising that they simply parked it elsewhere.

The device, which is currently being tested by Chevrolet, is known as K.I.T.T.Y (Key Innovation That Talks To You) and enables a lost car to actually call out to its owner. The gadget will resemble a tiny megaphone with a recorder attached and can be placed under the bonnet of the vehicle. Users will be provided with a small remote control which will work anywhere up to 600 feet of the apparatus. Upon pressing a button on the remote, the device will respond by emitting a pre-recorded announcement which may be personalised to whatever the owner desires.

Testing on this new technology, created by a partnership between Chevrolet and LOC8TOR, has been performed over the holiday period and the results are set to be evaluated this month to decide whether the device should be offered as an option on the company’s new vehicles. How much such an addition would cost is yet to be decided but, if the price is reasonable, K.I.T.T.Y looks set to makes drivers’ amnesia a thing of the past.

However, if you aren’t planning to buy a car which will shout at you until you find it, why not just make the task easier by parking in a well-lit, secure space. For a free quotation simply fill out an enquiry form on this website. You will be surprised to find out how cheap parking in London may be!

Norwich City Council has become the first local authority to assign parking charges according to the length of the resident’s vehicle.  However, the scheme has come up against much criticism as many have claimed that such a proposal discriminates not only against large cars which still manage to have low emissions but also against families.  The plan will penalise drivers who own vehicles which are more than 4.45 (14 ½) metres in length, such as the Vauxhall Vectra.  The aim of the operation, which has been implemented by Norwich Highways Agency Committee (a joint initiative between the city council and Norfolk County Council), is intended as a way to “encourage more people to drive smaller cars”.  According the Brian Morrey, the committee’s vice-chairman, “it is far more environmentally friendly and would also generate more parking space on the roads”. 

Unfortunately, it seems that not everyone is sharing in Mr Morrey’s opinion as a number of motoring organisations have asserted that the measure is meaningless, as it is not an appropriate way of discriminating between eco-friendly cars and the more harmful gas-guzzlers.  The traffic enforcement company NCP has joined these challengers by strongly contending that the plan is without merit point out that a car such as the Toyota Prius would fall into the expensive parking classification, being quite a large car, though it has very low emission.  Large electric vehicles would be another example of a clear exception, being a big car which is by no means as dangerous or harmful to the environment as many of its smaller associates.

The parking tariff of cars longer than 4.45m will almost double, increasing from the current rate of £16 to £30.  Vehicles below 3.92m, such as the Vauxhall Corsa, will continue paying the present annual parking charge, whilst the fee for those residents owning transport between 3.92m and 4.45m will rise to £22.  An RAC spokesman has purported that this new system, dividing cars into three categories of length, will “discriminate against families with children” as they are more likely to drive longer vehicles such as estate cars.

Not only will the scheme be controversial and, to many, irritating, it will also be expensive.  At a cost of £36, 000 to implement the idea, with funding coming from the EU Civitas project, it is unclear as yet whether the changes will be worthwhile.  Other councils are likely to watch with interest in order to determine whether or not they should follow suit.  Richmond, in South-West London, became the first area to place a £300 levy on gas-guzzlers and 4×4s, with Hackney acting similarly by penalising residents who own cars with large engines.

Here at 247 Parking we don’t discriminate according to your choice of vehicle so if you would like to park in a secure, well-lit environment (without having to get your ruler out!) why not fill out an enquiry form for a free quotation.  You’ll be surprised to find out how cheap parking in Central London could be!

Over the last four days severe rail disruption across the United Kingdom has affected more than 250, 000 passengers and reports today suggest that such commotion looks likely to continue until Friday at the earliest.  Virgin trains have been informed that they will not have the West coast main line handed back to them until tomorrow, leading to a further 60, 000 people having their journeys disturbed.  However, even this assurance should be taken with a pinch of salt due to the string of earlier deadlines which have been missed.  Virgin’s own lack of confidence in such promises can be observed by the fact that they are keeping buses on standby to provide alternative transport, should the line not be repaired.

            The line has been blocked from London to Glasgow, Manchester and Liverpool (amongst others) as a result of the late completion of engineering works at Rugby by Network Rail.  This is not the only delay effecting travellers in and out of London, however, as Liverpool Street Station, from which 60,000 commuters a day take trains to East Anglia, Essex and many of the capital’s suburbs, has been closed for much of the day due to Northwest Rail failing to complete the installation of new overhead cables.

            Though these disruptions should be resolved in a matter of days, this will not bring an end to the havoc being caused for train passengers, as the Office of Rail Regulation has announced an inquiry into the events of the last few days.  Furthermore, recent forecasts have warned those in the south east to expect heavy snow falls which, given previous occurrences of such weather, is most probably set to throw even more train services into disarray.