parkingcongestion

Newsletter about THE FUTURE OF PARKING
Notes from a Discussion Meeting on 7-26-2001

Click here for the Notes from the Discussion Meeting about PARKING

July 26, 2001
newsletter7-26-2001park

Articles related to CONGESTION appear below....
London Drivers to Pay $7 Toll
By Beth Gardiner
Associated Press Writer
Tuesday, July 10, 2001; 4:41 p.m. EDT

LONDON �� Drivers will have to pay $7 a day to bring their cars into congested central London as part of a plan aimed at reducing weekday traffic by 15 percent in the British capital.

The fee, announced Tuesday, goes into effect in January 2003. Mayor Ken Livingstone, who has made the toll a priority, said the $282 million it is expected to bring in annually will be used to improve the city's ailing public transportation system.

Car owners will have to submit their vehicle registration numbers to London's transit agency and pay the fee by phone, by mail, over the Internet or at designated shops.

A network of cameras will be used to check license plates to make sure that those driving between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. Monday through Friday have paid. Violators could be ticketed as much as $112.

Livingstone said London's worsening traffic had become a drag on its economy.

"It would be negligent not to proceed rapidly," he said. "Continuing doing business every day in London is a nightmare."

Motorcycles, taxis, buses, emergency vehicles, mail trucks and cars owned by disabled people will be exempt from the charge. Central London residents who own cars will get a 90 percent discount.
Livingstone promised to use proceeds from the so-called "congestion charge" to add more buses and improve the subway system.

Peter Fitch, a Livingstone spokesman, said the plan will benefit those who pay the fee because they'll be able to get around the city better.

"Everyone agrees that congestion is killing our city," Fitch said. "Something's got to be done. This seems to be the best option that we have."

Not everyone is so convinced.

"We are concerned in London because the Tube system is at bursting point, the rail network is full and the buses are unreliable," said Edmund King, executive director of the RAC Foundation, a motorists' group. "We do not believe that you should charge people out of their cars until alternatives are in place first."

Singapore and several Norwegian cities have similar charges for city-center drivers, but Fitch said London would be the largest city in the world to implement such a fee. Other British cities and counties, including Manchester, Nottingham, Cambridgeshire, Derby, Durham and Birmingham are considering congestion charges.

Livingstone has been battling Prime Minister Tony Blair's government over its proposal to partly privatize the London Underground, which is the world's oldest subway system and is frequently overcrowded and plagued by breakdowns. The mayor wants to keep the system under public control.
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On the Net: http://www.london.gov.uk/ � Copyright 2001 The Associated Press
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One driver's experience

How bad is the congestion from I-95 to Andrews on Broward Blvd.?

The distance:

Number of traffic lights:
NW 15 avenue

NW 11 avenue

NW 9th Avenue

NW 7th avenue

NW 4th (flashing, works during the performing arts)

RailRoad

NW 2nd Ave

Andrews Ave

NE Third Avenue

Federal Hwy.

Steve arrived at:

8:40:05 at NW 15th Ave

8:43:19 at 9th

8:45:00 at Andrews

Length of the cross avenue's green: 1:18
(how much time does a car headed east on Broward need to wait?)

The green on Andrews Avenue started at 8:45:00 and ended at 8:46:18 (red during this time for Broward)

Length of the cross avenue's green: 0:42
(how much time does a car headed east on Broward need to wait until 11th Avenue goes red?)

The light was green at 8:41:13, for 11th avenue
then it turned red, green for Broward at 8:41.55
It remained green for Broward for 1:35

At 8:43:30 the light for Broward went red

Intersection at NW 27 Avenue and Broward Blvd. (west of I-95

Broward Blvd can turn left (gets a green) at 34.42

Then at 36:16, it went red. TIME for Green for Broward = 1:34
The green started for 27th Avenue

Then at 37:16 it went green for Broward.
Green for 27th Avenue was 1:00

By the end o the minute, there were no more cars in the intersection and the cars headed east on Broward were waiting....

Looking east from I-95 (east on Broward Blvd.) at 8:40 a.m., Tuesday August 21

The nearest traffic light is 18th Avenue

Traffic looking west on Aug. 20, Monday, 5:55 p.m.

Traffic looking east on Aug. 20, Monday, 5:55 p.m. from the same spot that the first (west-looking) photo was taken.

The light is at 5th avenue

<<< The light is at 7th avenue

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