London Mayor wants to extend congestion charge to other areas

Despite being caught out for providing false information about the levels of acceptance for London’s congestion charge of the city’s own residents, Mayor Ken Livingstone is reportedly planning to expand the program into other areas of the city. Livingstone is being coy about his future plans for the congestion zone because he fears it may cost him votes at the upcoming May 1 election, but an inside source has revealed that Transport for London is developing plans to introduce charging to other congested areas.

The source told The Times that the transport body is under strict instructions not to disclose anything before polling day, as ordered by the Mayor himself. The same thing happened at the last election when Livingstone failed to reveal before voting that he was increasing the original charge of £5 to the £8 it is today. However, this time his transport manifesto reaffirms his decision to charge the most fuel-inefficient cars £25 a day.

Transport for London is also backing Livingstone against accusations from Porsche that he's exceeding his powers by introducing the £25 charge. Porsche has said it will seek a judicial review of the increase and has argued that it is disproportionate because it would make a “negligible” impact on carbon dioxide emissions.