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London road pricing zone to be reduced
London (AFP) Nov 28, 2008 London's congestion charge zone is to be cut back in size, with the scrapping of an extension introduced last year into some of the capital's plushest districts, Mayor Boris Johnson said. The western extension, imposed in 2007 by his predecessor Ken Livingstone, means that motorists must pay eight pounds (12.25 dollars, 9.65 euros) a day to take their cars into the wealthy residential area as well as the city centre. A five-week informal public consultation by Johnson, attracting nearly 28,000 responses, found that some 67 percent of individual respondents and 86 percent of businesses favoured removing the zone. The western extension zone -- which takes in areas including upmarket Chelsea and Kensington -- will now be removed, Johnson said. The earliest that the extension could be abolished is early 2010. Asking locals whether they wanted the extension zone was one of Johnson's manifesto pledges in the mayoral elections in May, when Johnson ousted Livingstone. "Londoners have spoken loud and clear, and the majority of people have said that that they would like the scheme scrapped," Johnson said Thursday. "As a mayor that keeps his promises I am instructing Transport for London to begin work on the process of a formal consultation on the removal of the western extension. The original congestion charge zone was introduced by Livingstone in 2003 with the aim of reducing traffic and curbing air pollution, in a radical step closely watched by other cities worldwide. When the levy was introduced, motorists paid five pounds a day from Monday to Friday to drive in the City of London financial district and the West End, the city's main commercial and entertainment centre. The London Chamber of Commerce and Industry welcomed Johnson's announcement that the zone is to be cut back. "This is an important milestone for many of the capital's hard-pressed businesses and we urge the mayor to launch a root-and-branch review of the original charging scheme in the central zone," it said in a statement. However, the Campaign for Better Transport said Johnson had "turned his back on carbon reductions", while Jenny Jones, a Green Party member of the London Assembly, said the decision would "lead to more traffic and more pollution". Share This Article With Planet Earth
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