{"id":2507,"date":"2022-12-15T14:47:53","date_gmt":"2022-12-15T14:47:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/hedgehogcycling.co.uk\/wp\/?p=2507"},"modified":"2023-09-13T04:41:28","modified_gmt":"2023-09-13T03:41:28","slug":"bus-operators-propose-7-congestion-charge-zones","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hedgehogcycling.co.uk\/wp\/2022\/12\/15\/bus-operators-propose-7-congestion-charge-zones\/","title":{"rendered":"Bus Operators Propose \u00a37 Congestion Charge Zones"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<h1 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span style=\"color:#D06060\">Bus Operators Propose \u00a37 Congestion Charge Zones<\/span><\/h1>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-post-date\"><time datetime=\"2022-12-15T14:47:53+00:00\">15 December 2022<\/time><\/div>\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"621\" height=\"401\" src=\"https:\/\/hedgehogcycling.co.uk\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/harrogate-electrics-graphic.png\" alt=\"Harrogate Electrics Graphic\" class=\"wp-image-2508\" srcset=\"https:\/\/hedgehogcycling.co.uk\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/harrogate-electrics-graphic.png 621w, https:\/\/hedgehogcycling.co.uk\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/harrogate-electrics-graphic-300x194.png 300w, https:\/\/hedgehogcycling.co.uk\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/harrogate-electrics-graphic-600x387.png 600w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 621px) 100vw, 621px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Harrogate Electrics Graphic, by Transdev<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Bus operators have asked the government to implement congestion charge zones in English towns and cities, urgently and widely.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The proposed charge for driving in urban areas is \u00a37. It should only be applied once bus services have been increased, so there is a genuine alternative to driving.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The proposals were made in a report written by WPI Economics that the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cpt-uk.org\/campaigns-reports\/bus-and-coach-the-route-to-net-zero\/\">Confederation of Passenger Transport<\/a> submitted to the the DfT and Department for Levelling Up earlier this month, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.telegraph.co.uk\/business\/2022\/12\/04\/roll-congestion-charges-nationwide-bus-operators-tell-ministers\/\">according to an article in the Telegraph<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Congestion charges would be an important part of &#8216;carrot and stick&#8217; measures to make bus travel more attractive. Without such measures the report says that net zero targets will be missed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>&#8216;Without a significant step change to government policy, current decarbonisation targets will not be met.&#8217;<\/p>\n<cite>matthew oakley, research director at wpi economics<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Carrot and Stick<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><a href=\"https:\/\/hedgehogcycling.co.uk\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/cpt-graphic-2.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"827\" height=\"409\" src=\"https:\/\/hedgehogcycling.co.uk\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/cpt-graphic-2.png\" alt=\"Key interventions from the WPI Economics report\" class=\"wp-image-2525\" srcset=\"https:\/\/hedgehogcycling.co.uk\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/cpt-graphic-2.png 827w, https:\/\/hedgehogcycling.co.uk\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/cpt-graphic-2-300x148.png 300w, https:\/\/hedgehogcycling.co.uk\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/cpt-graphic-2-768x380.png 768w, https:\/\/hedgehogcycling.co.uk\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/cpt-graphic-2-600x297.png 600w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 827px) 100vw, 827px\" \/><\/a><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Key interventions from the WPI Economics report<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Buses need to be made more attractive at the same time as discouraging car use.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The key is to combine policies rather than relying on one or two.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">An Ambitious Strategy<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The WPI Economics report says that modal shift is &#8216;necessary, desirable and possible&#8217;, but piecemeal interventions will not deliver the scale of change required. Instead, an ambitious strategy will be needed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>There is a gap in the increase in bus passenger numbers forecast under current policy, and what&#8217;s needed to meet climate targets:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>bus passenger numbers will increase by 10% from 2019 to 2050 under current policy, but<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>they must increase by 79% in order to meet the UK&#8217;s climate targets<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Making buses free at the point of use would be expensive (\u00a34bn a year) and only deliver 11% of the modal shift needed. The WPI Economics report therefore rejects that option, and recommends a three-pronged approach including congestion charges.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Recommended Approach<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The three-pronged approach includes:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>widespread congestion charges<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>employee incentives to use the bus<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>a \u00a32 cap on bus fares<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Funds raised by congestion charges would amount to around \u00a317bn per year, and could be reinvested in the bus network. The total recommended investment in buses to 2050 is \u00a330bn. This would deliver 6bn extra bus journeys per year, of which 1.8bn would replace car trips.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>An employee incentive scheme has the potential to increase bus journeys by 55m per year, of which 28m would replace car trips.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A \u00a32 fare cap would lead to 215m extra bus trips per year, of which 65m would replace car journeys.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The measures and benefits are set out in this graphic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><a href=\"https:\/\/hedgehogcycling.co.uk\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/cpt-graphic.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"950\" height=\"532\" src=\"https:\/\/hedgehogcycling.co.uk\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/cpt-graphic.png\" alt=\"CPT graphic\" class=\"wp-image-2513\" srcset=\"https:\/\/hedgehogcycling.co.uk\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/cpt-graphic.png 950w, https:\/\/hedgehogcycling.co.uk\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/cpt-graphic-300x168.png 300w, https:\/\/hedgehogcycling.co.uk\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/cpt-graphic-768x430.png 768w, https:\/\/hedgehogcycling.co.uk\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/cpt-graphic-600x336.png 600w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 950px) 100vw, 950px\" \/><\/a><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">CPT graphic<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/hedgehogcycling.co.uk\/wp\/2022\/11\/21\/greater-cambridge-making-connections-2022\/\">Cambridge has recently proposed a \u00a35 congestion charge<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>When Mr Johnson was Prime Minister, he launched a bus strategy with \u00a33bn of funding. Slightly more than half of local transport authorities have benefited from this so far, but 31 of 79 have not.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Bus Operators Propose \u00a37 Congestion Charge Zones Bus operators have asked the government to implement congestion charge zones in English towns and cities, urgently and widely. The proposed charge for driving in urban areas is \u00a37. It should only be<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2508,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[84,60,34],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2507","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-congestion-charge","category-public-transport","category-transport"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hedgehogcycling.co.uk\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2507","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hedgehogcycling.co.uk\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hedgehogcycling.co.uk\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hedgehogcycling.co.uk\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hedgehogcycling.co.uk\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2507"}],"version-history":[{"count":14,"href":"https:\/\/hedgehogcycling.co.uk\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2507\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2532,"href":"https:\/\/hedgehogcycling.co.uk\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2507\/revisions\/2532"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hedgehogcycling.co.uk\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2508"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hedgehogcycling.co.uk\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2507"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hedgehogcycling.co.uk\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2507"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hedgehogcycling.co.uk\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2507"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}