Congestion charge takes toll on motorists

  • Published
  • By 1st Lt. Jamie Humphries
  • 100th Air Refueling Wing Public Affairs
RAF MILDENHALL, England --  Driving in the England can be strenuous. Driving in downtown London may be one of the worst of all challenges. 

While planning a trip to London, an important item to consider is the congestion charge. According to the official British transportation Web site, congestion charges are a “toll” originated to discourage drivers from entering central London because of congestion.  Additionally, tolls could raise more than £130 million a year for improvements to the capital’s transport system. 

According to base legal officials, the charge allows people to enter, drive around and leave the charging zone as many times as they wish in that particular day of payment.  There are no toll booths or barriers around the charging zone, and no physical tickets or passes are issued. Instead, a payment is made to register a vehicle number (license) plate on a database for any journey within the zone. 

“Cameras will read your registration number as you enter, drive within or leave the zone and check it against the database,” said Tracey Cooper, British legal liaison. “Once the vehicle number plate has been matched showing you have paid, the photographic image of your vehicle will be automatically wiped off the database.” 

The charge of £8 is enforced from 7 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. Monday through Friday, excluding public holidays, and all cars driving in the charge zone must pay. 

Anyone not paying the fee will receive a penalty charge notice of £100. Failure to pay the penalty fee within 28 days results in the penalty being increased to £150. Once the penalty has increased, a charge certificate is sent to the registered owner advising them of the increase and that action to recover the outstanding penalty will be taken. Failure to take action could result in registration of debt with the county court and bailiffs could be appointed to recover the debt. 

Although the penalties appear high, there’s one way to avoid the hassle altogether.
“Just drive to the nearest train station and ride into London,” said Mrs. Cooper. “You’ll save yourself a lot of time, money and most of all headaches.”