Letter: Mayor must come clean on road charges

Brian Mooney of the Fair Deal for the Motorist campaign on possible new charges for drivers

Mayor of London Sadiq Khan in front of a bus — Sadiq Khan (credit GLA)

Dear Barnet Post,

Sadiq Khan’s manifesto uses very specific words to rule out smart pay per mile road pricing’. [1]

It does not rule out any other driving taxes; in fact Transport for London (TfL) has identified other possible new sources of revenue for him. They included ‘pay per kilometre’ road pricing, to be ready by 2025, or a blunt charge for driving anywhere in London (‘carbon charge’). [2]

He adopted their suggestion to expand the ULEZ charge. He should now explain what ‘road user charging’ TfL had in mind to replace its income before 2026 (reference: ULEZ consultation document). [3]

While backpedalling on his long-established desire for London-wide road pricing, he has contradictorily talked up a charging system to replace the range of charges. The Mayor is developing a £150 million IT system for this using London taxpayers’ money, [4]

He must come clean on exactly what taxes and/or bans he is considering for the driving public, given his intentions to drive 27% of vehicle journeys off the road. Also which boroughs his staff are working with to discuss local charges. [5]

For more information, visit www.fairdealforthemotorist.org.uk.

Yours faithfully,

Brian Mooney

Campaign Manager

Fair Deal for the Motorist campaign

All references linked from www.fairdealforthemotorist.org.uk but these are the main ones

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[1] 2024 Manifesto page – https://sadiq.london/manifesto/making-london-greener/

[2] ‘New Sources of Revenue’, TfL, 2021 – https://tfl.gov.uk/cdn/static/cms/documents/new-revenue-sources-report-appendix-acc.pdf

[3] TfL consultation document ‘Integrated Impact Analysis’ from Jacobs consultancy –https://haveyoursay.tfl.gov.uk/15619/widgets/44946/documents/27025

[4] See short ‘Future of Motoring’ video on https://www.mylondon.news/news/transport/londoners-concerned-privacy-new-charges-28819052 – GLA mayor’s questions, 14.09.23. MQT/2023/3318

https://www.london.gov.uk/who-we-are/what-london-assembly-does/questions-mayor/find-an-answer/pay-mile-london – 16.11.23, MQT/2023/4140

https://www.london.gov.uk/who-we-are/what-london-assembly-does/questions-mayor/find-an-answer/pay-mile-road-user-charging

[5] 27% reduction target – https://www.london.gov.uk/programmes-and-strategies/environment-and-climate-change/climate-change/zero-carbon-london/pathways-net-zero-carbon-2030

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