Three years on from the launch of his pioneering road-charging scheme, London’s mayor insisted it was as effective as ever last week, despite proof that congestion is on the increase again. The fourth annual monitoring report by Transport for London admits the long-term trend of rising congestion is ‘reasserting itself’. Congestion in central London fell by 30% almost overnight with the introduction of the charging scheme in February 2003. But it began to increase in the zone again in the second half of 2004, the report notes. Average delays rose from 1.6 minutes per kilometre during the first 18 months to 1.8 mins/km in 2005. This compares with 2.3 mins/km pre-charging and represents a 22% reduction in congestion for 2005 – a notable erosion of the scheme’s early success that not even July’s £3 hike in the daily charge to £8 could offset. But TfL stresses that the average reduction of 26% since the scheme began is well above the mayor’s initial 20% target. And measured against the overall background trend, congestion within the zone is still down 30%. TfL’s report paints a paradox in London’s long-term traffic trends – a slow decline in the number of vehicles entering central London combined with rising congestion. It puts this down to an apparent reduction in road capacity – attributable partly to increased utility street works, but mainly to what TfL says are beneficial measures by authorities to improve road safety, provide for cyclists and pedestrians, and bus lanes. Enduring benefits claimed for the scheme include a 43% increase in cycling, a 13-15% cut in harmful emissions, 70 fewer personal injuries a year, and ‘significant improvements in bus services’. But the number of morning-peak bus passengers remained flat last year, despite TfL’s forecast of 1-3% growth after the charges increase. Excess waiting time fell by 4% within the zone. ‘This report shows the congestion charge continues to be highly effective,’ said mayor Ken Livingstone. And TfL director Michelle Dix stressed London was ‘the only major city in the world to achieve a shift from private car use to public transport’. Borough engineers were satisfied with the ‘robustness’ of TfL’s monitoring, said Joe Weiss, chairman of the London Technical Advisers’ Group. Congestion was creeping up, and the Greater London Authority needed to set out a strategy for tackling it in outer London, likely to involve road pricing. Business lobby group London First agreed. The zone’s westward extension would increase congestions further by 3-4%, said chief executive Baroness Jo Valentine. ‘What London needs is a coherent road strategy to deal with this increase.’