Britain battles clogged streets

Drivers argue that the new transport system will force them to pay now and reap benefits later. And where the Tube is concerned, it might be much, much later. The network is to get a £16-billion overhaul under a groundbreaking semi-privatization initiative just approved. But it is unclear when that might yield concrete improvements. "Most people say you won't see anything for at least a year," says a London Underground spokeswoman.

Another criticism of the congestion charge is the expense of introducing it - £200 million pounds, - and the expense of maintaining it. "The cost of imposing the charge looks likely to eat up about 70 percent of the revenue," says Prof. Douglas McWilliams, director of the Centre for Economics and Business Research, a think tank. "We think the impact on congestion will be pretty limited. The government estimates a 15 percent reduction for peak-time traffic. We think it's 4 percent.

"It will probably end up as a waste of money rather than a complete disaster," McWilliams adds. "By about the second or third month, it will be an extra imposition yielding no very great benefits."

Not everyone will have to pay. A long list of exemptions and discounts extends to the disabled, residents, taxis, buses, emergency vehicles, and green-fuel cars. Even Queen Elizabeth and Prince Charles are technically excused, though they have nobly volunteered to pay. Politicians and diplomats are not exempt, prompting much indignation at the US Embassy, which argues that the "tax" is not applicable to official envoys.

For those not exempt, the payment system is daunting to navigate. A call center set up to deal with queries and payment has been heavily overloaded with 10,000 inquiries a day.

"There may be some teething problems, and they are being dealt with," says Rachel Allen, a spokeswoman for the Transport for London (TfL) body that runs the capital's transport. "A scheme this size and technology of this sort has never been tried anywhere in the world."

Some 800 cameras have been set up at the 174 entry/exit points to the zone. In theory these will record vehicle license plates as they head into or out of the area. A computer system matches numbers to the register of those who have paid. Those who haven't paid by midnight are traced through the government's car licensing body and fined £80.

Even if the technology functions like clockwork, there are loopholes. TfL estimates that 10 percent of vehicles will escape detection. Foreign plates will be hard to pin down. Penalties will be cumbersome to collect.

But of greater concern will be the response from key public sector workers such as nurses and teachers. People on both sides of the argument acknowledge that the congestion charge will also be a heavy burden for the low-paid.

"It is a fact that teachers and nurses and a number of other essential groups are not exempt, and it is going to make it difficult for them to do their jobs," says David Williams, a local government official for the London borough of Merton.

"We have got a problem of too many cars in central London," he says. "But this is taking a sledgehammer to crack a nut."

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