Edinburgh Congestion Charge - Background

Background

Edinburgh's roads radiate towards the city centre which acts as a hub for other modes of transport and to facilitate through-journeys. An outer by-pass circles the east, south and western boundaries of the city, but there is neither a northern by-pass nor a recognised inner ring road to take vehicular traffic. Edinburgh's public transport relies on buses and taxis; there are two major (and ten minor) city train stations, no light rail system, and the tram network was decommissioned in the 1950s. The city centre straddles seven hills; there is an off-road cycle network although there are few dedicated routes in the city centre. City commuters can use Park and Ride schemes, or several bus companies, with the largest being Lothian Buses, formed in 2000 with The City of Edinburgh Council as its major shareholder, carrying 108 million passengers in 2006.

Edinburgh's economy has been growing over the last few decades, with 34,800 more jobs predicted to be generated in the city between 2006 and 2015. This has helped to drive the local growth of car use in Edinburgh, with daily commuting trips identified as having increased by 72% between 1981 and 2001. In 2000 more vehicle registrations occurred in Edinburgh than anywhere else in Scotland. Congestion in the city is predicted to rise a further 25% between 2006 and 2026.

Edinburgh's road network is also in need of extensive repair and refurbishment; although maintenance has been increased to £16m per annum, the backlog of outstanding work is currently estimated at £70m.

Traffic delays and the impacts of road congestion has been estimated to cost the local economy about £20billion a year. Although its air quality is generally good, parts of Edinburgh suffer from high concentrations of nitrogen oxides (NOx), mostly emitted from vehicle exhausts. Minor traffic management changes were planned to reduce this by 5% in the worst-affected areas, but an overall 40% reduction was targeted, partly by introducing a low emission zone to restrict heavy goods vehicles, partly through improved vehicle standards, and the rest through Edinburgh's 'Integrated Transport Initiative', with journeys moving to public transport as a result of congestion charging. To improve public transport, the City also considered opening up existing railway lines, currently used for freight, to carry new passenger trains, and a new tram line in South East Edinburgh.

In summary, Edinburgh Council was faced with increasing issues with private and public transport, yet it has limited options, and a challenging set of finances, being limited to its annual transportation budget, along with monies collected from parking charges.

Meanwhile, the Westminster Parliament passed legislation expanding the range of possible methods of taxation for roads in the UK, notably allowing for cities to introduce local road use pricing schemes. Durham introduced the first British scheme during 2002, followed by the London congestion charge in 2003, introduced under new powers granted to the Mayor of London, Ken Livingstone.

Edinburgh chose to participate in the Department for Transport's Charging Development Partnership of local authorities working considering congestion charging or workplace parking levies, and also part-funded the European Union's PRoGR€SS project ('Pricing Road use for Greater Responsibility, Efficiency and Sustainability') to demonstrate and evaluate the effectiveness and acceptance of urban road pricing schemes, under the EU's CUPID European Road Pricing initiative.