Congestion charge returns to pre-pandemic hours from today
Starting today, the congestion charge applied to those driving into central London will no longer be active on weekdays from 6pm.
The price cap, instead of going back to £11.50, will remain at the current rate of £15.
The decision was made by London mayor Sadiq Khan in mid-December to strike a balance between helping the capital’s recovery, in particular that of the night sector, and achieve London’s sustainability goals.
“What it was leading to was damage to the night-time economy, leading to jobs being lost, but also leading to our recovery not being as fast as it could have been,” Khan told the Evening Standard today.
“It’s really important for our policies to be pro-environment, pro-cleaning up our air and also pro-businesses.
“These are businesses, by the way, that pay their taxes that lead to us having some of the brilliant policies that we have, from more cycle lanes to widening the pavements, to investing in public transport.”
The charge is expected to bring between £60m to £80m per year into TfL’s pockets but it will lose around the same amount by shortening the operating hours.