Durham City congestion charge
Topic: Finance
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The Durham City congestion charge was the first congestion charge to be introduced in the UK in October 2002.[1][2]
Durham County Council introduced the toll for drivers using 1,000-year-old Saddler Street in the city centre which stands on the peninsula above the River Wear.[3] This is the only public access road leading to the World Heritage Site of Durham Cathedral and Durham Castle.[1] It was mainly introduced to reduce traffic flow using the road.[1]
Prior to the introduction of the congestion charge around 3000 vehicles used the road on a daily basis.[1] The narrow street, built centuries ago to cater for nothing bigger than a horse and cart, is used by up to 17,000 pedestrians a day, and, according to Durham County Council a "conflict between the two was causing traffic congestion, environmental problems and road safety hazards, as well as detracting from the experience of the World Heritage Site".[1] A year after the charge had been introduced, figures showed vehicle activity using the road fell by 85%.[1] Until 2011, traffic was controlled by a rising bollard in the road, which was monitored by CCTV and linked to an intercom system.[3]
It was reported in late April 2007 that since October 2002, the retractable bollard has been responsible for "300 instances of car damage".[4] According to Durham County Council, "the vast majority are very, very minor, resulting in damage such as a bent number plate."[4]
On 22 January 2011, The Northern Echo reported that Durham County Council was consulting on replacing the bollard with an automatic number plate recognition system.[5] As part of works on Saddler Street in the summer of 2011 the charge was temporally suspended and a new ANPR system installed, the system was reinstated on 25 July but the Charge was not enforced until 29 August to allow for the registration of exempt vehicles.[6]
See also
- Congestion pricing
- London congestion charge
- Motoring taxation in the United Kingdom
- Manchester congestion charge
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 "Country's First Congestion Charge is a Year Old Tomorrow". Durham County Council. 2003-09-30. http://www.durham.gov.uk/durhamcc/pressrel.nsf/vweb/0E6AAA7F1E29973880256DB1002FFB5B?opendocument.
- ↑ "Local welcome for congestion charge". BBC. 2002-10-01. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/2289692.stm.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 "Durham toll cuts traffic by 90%". The Guardian. 2003-01-02. https://www.theguardian.com/congestion/story/0,,870167,00.html.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 "Toll bollard claims 300 victims". BBC. 2007-04-27. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/wear/6598811.stm.
- ↑ "City could see alternative to rising bollard". 22 January 2011. http://www.thenorthernecho.co.uk/news/local/durham/8807277.City_could_see_alternative_to_rising_bollard/.
- ↑ "Tackling traffic in Durham". Durham County Council. http://www.durham.gov.uk/pages/pressrelease.aspx?pid=2684&archive=1.
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