London’s business owners and motorists have warned New Yorkers that they face a world of pain should the New York Governor implement a congestion charge – similar to the misery it’s wreaked in our capital and championed by our useless Mayor Sadiq Khan. MailOnline has more.
Plans to carve up parts of the Big Apple and implement charges of up to $23 (£18.95) to enter central Manhattan were outlined yesterday as the iconic American city aims to slash the number of cars on its gridlocked roads.
New York Governor Kathy Hochul is ploughing ahead with the controversial idea in a bid to raise billions – following in the footsteps of London’s Transport for London which has raised more than £4 billion from the Congestion Charge since 2003.
The proposals come just months after Sadiq Khan – himself a staunch defender of burdening motorists with pollution charges for driving their cars – visited New York City during his £34,000 taxpayer-funded tour of America.
During the visit, Mr Khan had been gushing in his praise for the capital’s congestion charge, telling reporters congestion pricing was a “massive success” and was necessity in major cities to cut pollution and gridlock.
But businesses and motorists closer to home have warned of the dire impacts the additional levy has had on the capital, as millions of cars are still being clocked in the congestion zone each month.
Meanwhile, Khan’s other anti-motorist pet project – the Ultra Low Emissions Zone (ULEZ) – has faced heavy criticism from researchers, who claim it has barely had an impact on emissions.
In November last year, researchers from Imperial College London found the controversial scheme resulted in just a 3% reduction in nitrogen dioxide (NO2) levels and “insignificant” drops in levels of ozone (O3).
Amazingly, at some sites around the capital, air pollution actually worsened, despite the ULEZ coming into force.
Last month the Federation of Small Businesses wrote to the Mayor to warn him that expanding his (ULEZ) scheme out to large areas of Greater London in 2023 could spell the end for local entrepreneurs.
London‘s Chamber of Commerce and Industry also warned Mr Khan that policies “that are rushed and fail to account for business’ requirements will have negative outcomes for our city”.
Worth reading in full.
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