London congestion charge

The London congestion charge is a fee charged on most motor vehicles operating within the Congestion Charge Zone (CCZ) in Central London between 07:00 and 18:00 Mondays to Fridays. It is not charged on weekends, public holidays or between Christmas Day and New Year's Day (inclusive). The charge was introduced on 17 February 2003. As of 2017^[update], the London charge zone remains as one of the largest congestion charge zones in the world, despite the cancellation of the Western Extension which operated between February 2007 and January 2011. The charge aims to reduce high traffic flow in the central area and raise investment funds for London's transport system.

The standard charge is £11.50 for each day, for each non-exempt vehicle that travels within the zone, with a penalty of between £65 and £195 levied for non-payment. Since 1 July 2013 the Greener Vehicle Discount was replaced by the Ultra Low Emission Discount (ULED), which introduced more stringent emission standards that limit the free access to the congestion charge zone to all-electric cars, some plug-in hybrids, and any vehicle that emits 75g/km or less of CO₂ and meets the Euro 5 emission standards for air quality. The ULED scheme was designed to curb the growing number of diesel vehicles on London's roads, which since 24 June 2016 pay the full congestion charge. A new toxicity charge, known as T-charge will be introduced from 23 October 2017 for vehicles that do not meet Euro 4 standards. These older polluting vehicles will pay an extra £10 charge on top of the congestion charge to drive within the Congestion Charge Zone.

Enforcement is primarily based on automatic number plate recognition (ANPR). Transport for London (TfL) is responsible for the charge which has been operated by IBM since 1 November 2009. During the first ten years since the introduction of the scheme, gross revenue reached about £2.6 billion up to the end of December 2013. From 2003 to 2013, about £1.2 billion (46%) of net revenue has been invested in public transport, road and bridge improvement and walking and cycling schemes. Of these, a total of £960 million was invested on improvements to the bus network.

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