On 03/07/2010 22:27, Chris Read wrote:
It is demonstrably the case that 'black' cabs contribute significantly to
congestion within central London.

Therefore, why are they exempt from the congestion charge? I know taxi
drivers have lots of votes in marginal constituencies such as Ilford North,
Eltham and Finchley, but other than this political consideration, were there
any *good* reasons for excluding taxis from the CC?

I am pretty sure that gerrymandering was not the reason.

Taxis are compellable and have controlled fares and controlled routes
(within reason). If you flag a cab in Kilburn Park Road at 5pm and
demand to be taken to Seymour Place, he is legally compelled to take you
and he is legally compelled to charge you about £5.50. If he was a
suburban cab working daytime, this could easily be his only trip into
the CC area during that day. CC was supposed to change driver habits, so
what would be the point of applying it to people who are legally
compelled to drive into the zone?

The real question is why do minicabs get a reduced rate, when they must
be the most congesting vehicles. The boss can organise things so that
the same vehicles go into London repeatedly, thus minimising the
payments, and can charge whatever fares he likes to cover the cost. If
increased minicab costs caused fewer people to use minicabs into Central
London and more people to use taxis which mostly travel empty into
Central London, that would obviously reduce congestion, which is what
the CC was supposed to be about.

I have seen numerous Chelsea Tractors driven by wealthy women with
minicab stickers on, although not so many in the last couple of years,
so maybe they are clamping down on that loophole... or maybe the western
extension dramatically reduced the number of people likely to exploit it
in that sort of vehicle.