Transport for London research shows c-charge actually increases CO2 emissions

Wow.
I just gets better and better...

ok, thats interesting. i wonder how the hell you get 182,000 tonnes of CO2 coming from a small number of cars POSSIBLY going a couple km out of their way so that the rich snobs inside can avoid a hefty fee.

the problem that I have with this is that its all just sensationalism. anyone can justify any variation in what ever variables that you need to come up with an estimate like this. we just dont know the math. maybe these people are assuming that everyone who owns a taxable car will drive around the congestion zone every day, when this isn't necessarily the case. some people may not drive every day, some may not drive a taxable car every day, and certainly some will not even bother circling the congestion zone.

once you start making a certain amount of money, you can justify spending 50$ in taxes to cross through a certain area instead of spending more than 50$ worth of your time to circle around.

like i've been saying. if your time is worth 50$ an hour to your employer, then are you going to waste an hour going out of your way to not spend that 50$? no. it doesnt make any sense. and surely the people who own these taxable vehicles in london are making MUCH more than 50$ an hour.

Chris,

your arguments are sheer speculation unless you know what studies they performed and on what basis their finds are on. Anyone can argue 100 ways but until you know what data they're using to make these claims on then its not valid.

craig; theres no speculation there. the article says that this group says that people will drive out of their way to avoid paying a tax. i argue that it would be stupid to do so, because the people who would be paying this tax are the people who can afford the best in luxury, and thus their time is worth a lot of money, thus making it very inefficient for them to spend a lot of their time to go out of their way to spend a little less money compared to what they normally make.

the point here is, that they're saying the number of people who would go out of their way to avoid this taxation area is so vast that 182,000 tonnes of CO2 will be produced every year. that is a lot of people who are going very far out of their way, very often, to avoid a relatively small fine on some of the richest people in all of England.

this group is basically saying there are people out there who would drive 10 miles out of their way to save 5c/gallon on their gasoline. not only are you wasting your time but you're burning more gas than you're buying with the money that you ended up saving. and then you're losing your time that is worth maybe 100$/h to some one.

we laugh at 50$ a day taxation to drive into a certain part of london, but realize, thats peanuts to the people who this applies to. these people are driving in cars that cost upwards of 80k euros, and easily make 6 figures every year.

i guarantee that 95% of the people that this charge will effect will either chose to "drive the A6 instead of the Lambo" to work, or will just pay the damned fine. then the 5% that are stupid and stubborn, will really "stick it to Big Ken" and drive around,.... ONLY WHEN THEY'RE DRIVING THE BIG CARS THOUGH.

like i said, its all BS. this will go into effect, and london will make a small amount of cash off a very small population who drive through a small portion of london. and those people wont give a flying fornication.

Go Porsche!!!

Let's funnel that 182,000 tonnes of CO2 straight down Red Ken's scrawny little neck....

Go Porsche, is right!!! Why would'nt you protect your business and standup against a somewhat anti capitalist agenda.

Ironic how seventy years ago the English were fighting against the Germans for similar reasons.

Although Chirs with his "rich snobs" comment is apparently all for making life fair and spread the wealth philosophy.

Bottom line is, it's wrong. It's excessive and it draws so much attention because it's nuts. It's like the guy suing the cleaners for $12 million because they lost his pants a few months ago. The numbers serve to draw attention, and that's what Ken wants. I only hope he is thwarted so that this movement doesn't take hold elsewhere...

Chris my friend... I want to see you a happy man. So how about every time you drive into the city center of whatever town you live in you send a check for $50 to Red Ken and see if it's peanuts to you. You seem to be so eager to part with your money that you must have a lot of it. I salute you.

Me? I like to keep my money and not be a victim of the modern day equivalent of highway robbery. It doesn't matter if I choose to drive a Mack truck with several trailers or a detuned Prius. It's MY money, they are MY roads and I don't want to be forced to give either up to a delusional asswipe like Red Ken.

But, again, that's me.

I agree. Paying high prices for gasoline is market driven, and that's the way the world works, but this sort of thing is highway robbery, plain and simple...

Whenever government steps in THIS much, it leads to disaster...

Go Porsche..... give the Greenies hell on behalf of a sports car fans !!!

yer we pay high prices for gas but the fact is the government tax is far higher than the actual cost in fuel...the government should do the right thing for the economy andcut the futy so we can pay 50p a litre

I agree with Craig, again, the article says that this level of Co2 is LARGELY due to but not solely due to drivers opting to drive around the delimited zone. You can't assume anything without reading the detailed study. The article above is simply references the study.

As for the anti-snob rich people attitude, what's up with that? are all wealthy people snobs? are they snobs because they drive a Cayenne (or any luxury vehicle)? or just because they can afford these cars (and perhaps you can't)?