CC Hasn't Improved Air Quality

[Wizzo]

The London Congestion Charge has not improved air quality in the capital, according to a new study.

It has been found that levels of pollution in the city’s Congestion Zone has changed little before and after the charge came into force, reports the New Scientist.

The charge was introduced in 2003 and has since gone up from £5 to £8 a day, and if new proposals are successful will increase to £25 this year.

But Frank Kelly, a researcher at King’s College in London, who presented the analysis this week at a Health Effects Institute conference in Philadelphia, said there had been only a minimal change in pollutants such as smog, diesel soot, and carbon monoxide.

The results came from tests of air quality collected over two years before and after the charge was introduced.

Now Kelly plans to investigate whether the new low emissions zone around London will improve air quality.

‘If you can demonstrate a health benefit, then you would imagine the public would be more enthusiastic for a scheme where they would have to dip into their pockets every day,’ he added.

TfL argues that congestion charging has cut emissions of nitrogen oxides by 8% and particulate matter created by diesel engines by 15%.

‘A number of factors mean these do not necessarily feed through to observable improvements in air quality, including the chemical reactions that occur in the atmosphere, the import of pollution from other areas, and the weather itself,’ a spokesman told New Scientist.

[Steven Roy]

Presumably now there are more taxi and bus journeys spewing out diesel fumes.  That can only make things worse.