London has always been a leader in transport innovation. The city introduced the world’s first underground, created one of the most ambitious Congestion Charging schemes and more recently introduced a revolutionary contactless payment system.
But London can’t stand still. The Tube is overcrowded. Roads are congested. Air pollution regularly breaches legal limits.
Centre for London’s new report, Green Light: Next generation road user charging for a healthier, more liveable, London, argues that London should lead the way in making the most of new technology by replacing the growing patchwork of road charges with a fairer, simpler and smarter single digital platform.
The Congestion Charge was the height of sophistication when it was introduced and helped free up road space for freight, public transport, pedestrians and cyclists. The recently introduced ULEZ will make a big contribution to cutting air-pollution. But they are both relatively blunt systems.
New technology puts London in a pole position to create a more sophisticated distance-based scheme, one which makes sure road users pay for the true costs of a journey. The scheme would work through a platform which compares road charges with other travel modes – tubes, buses, bikes, cabs, car clubs – and allows users to choose options that help create a healthier, greener and more liveable city.
Join us at the launch to discuss the future of transport, technology and road user charging. Centre for London’s Silviya Barrett will present the findings of our research, followed by a panel of experts discussing:
- What are the roadblocks to a greener and healthier city?
- What impact could a smarter road charging scheme have on different road users?
- How can we ensure a new scheme stands the test of time and can adapt to future travel behaviour?
- What could a new London scheme mean for the rest of the UK?
With featured speakers
Anthony Alicastro, Chief Executive Officer, emovis
Silviya Barrett, Research Manager, Centre for London
Richard Dilks, Transport Programme Director, London First
Julian Glover, Associate Editor, Evening Standard
Ben Rogers, Director, Centre for London
Shashi Verma, Director of Strategy & Chief Technology Officer, Transport for London