CityCyclingEdinburgh Forum » Debate!

Edinburgh congestion charge plans (2025)

(7 posts)
  • Started 1 month ago by Morningsider
  • Latest reply from neddie

  1. Morningsider
    Member

    Been chatting with a few wonderful cycling folk on Bluesky about this post by Councillor Jenkinson about an EEN article on a possible Edinburgh congestion charge:

    Rotten headline. What I am actually doing is starting a conversation with Glasgow and our surrounding local authorities to see what the appetite for road user charging is in Scotland’s central belt. We have no powers to implement any scheme at this time.
    Obviously, CCE a far better place to post on a complicated issue that needs a bit of space to discuss.

    I think the Councillor has been badly advised, as the Council does appear to have the power to introduce a congestion charge. Exactly the same powers it would have used in 2005, which are set out in part 3 of the Transport (Scotland) Act 2001 and the following regulations:

    Road User Charging (Liability for Charges) (Scotland) Regulations 2005
    Road User Charging (Consultation and Publication) (Scotland) Regulations 2003
    Road User Charging (Penalty Charges) (Scotland) Regulations 2005.

    The Scottish Government also published a guidance note on implementing road user charging schemes called "Delivering Integrated Transport Initiatives Through
    Road User Charging – Consultation and Approval Process: Guidance for Local Authorities" in 2001. Old, not available online but as far as I can tell still in force as the legislation it deals with has not changed. It was used by the Council to prepare its 2005 road user charging scheme - which most people forget received 'approval in principle' from Scottish Ministers.

    Councillor Jenkinson refers to any potential scheme covering the whole of the central belt. There are a couple of barriers to this. The first is practical - the current legislative set-up only applies to local roads, a congestion charge cannot apply to trunk roads - such as the bypass, M8, M9 and so on. The Scottish Government stated in December 2024 that:

    ...the Scottish Government does not have a policy position to progress national (Scotland-wide) road pricing
    Which looks like road user charging on the nationwide trunk road network is not likely in the foreseeable future. Doesn't rule the scheme out completely, but massively complicates its implementation.

    The second barrier to such a scheme would be political. I cannot see Councillors in West Lothian, Falkirk, South Lanarkshire and the rest ever signing up to such a scheme - the political cost would be too great and the opportunity for attacks on "metropolitan elites" in the big cities simply too good to ignore, especially in the current political climate.

    So why propose such a scheme and not one wholly within the Edinburgh Council area? I can't speak for the Councillor's motivations, but if I wanted to look like I was doing something on traffic demand management without any chance of it ever happening, I would do something similar.

    Be interesting to see how this develops. Any thoughts?

    Posted 1 month ago #
  2. chdot
    Admin

    Thanks.

    I suspect you are right about ‘CEC could do it’.

    Also, we all know about ‘consultations’…

    It would be easy/cynical to suggest that Cllr J just wants to be ‘seen to be doing something!, perhaps with some awareness that there will be minimal ‘buy-in’ from other councils.

    Of course it’s possible he has had conversations and some sort of united pressure on SG is coming.

    Meanwhile I agree with “I think the Councillor has been badly advised”.

    Posted 1 month ago #
  3. Frenchy
    Member

    I think the Councillor has been badly advised

    Can we discount the hypothesis that he has been well advised, but isn't following the advice?

    Posted 1 month ago #
  4. chdot
    Admin

    Good point!

    Posted 1 month ago #
  5. chdot
    Admin

    When could it happen? Even supporters of the proposal admit it is likely to be several years before a congestion charge could be introduced, due to the need to amend legislation. Many city councillors and campaigners hope to put pressure on the Scottish Government to make the necessary changes. With no congestion charge plan in the SNP government’s current Programme for Government, supporters hope to turn the question into an election issue for the Scottish Parliament next May.

    https://www.edinburghinquirer.co.uk/p/return-of-congestion-charge

    Posted 1 month ago #
  6. chdot
    Admin

    Oxford’s campaign group Cyclox said it welcomed plans for a temporary congestion charge being discussed by the council, which would see motorists pay £5 to drive through certain roads at peak times, with exemptions for Blue Badge holders, carers, emergency vehicles, and local businesses.

    Ian Loader, Cyclox chairman, said: “The council must be bold and make the city safe for cyclists, bus users and pedestrians, and that means reducing levels of road traffic.

    https://road.cc/content/news/oxford-cycling-campaigners-call-bold-congestion-charge-314401

    Posted 1 week ago #
  7. neddie
    Member

    A congestion charge won't work to reduce congestion with so many exemptions. Anyone could be a "local business" or a "carer", with a modicum of ingenuity to front one. Anyone with children or a granny could call themselves a carer after all. And the whole point of charging businesses is to drive efficiency, so that businesses choose the most efficient means of transportation for the job. A property agent doesn't need a fleet of Minis to visit properties, when a fleet of mostly e-bikes would do.

    So unfortunately, it'll just be seen as a tax that doesn't reduce congestion, penalising those unlucky enough to pay, and deemed a failure.

    I'm all in favour of congestion charging, but designing weak schemes will result in failure (in the same way that leaving LTNs "too leaky" also means you don't get modal shift)

    And like a segregated cycle lane, it has to be "all or nothing". For example, if you don't complete a segregated cycle lane across difficult junctions, people won't use it

    Posted 1 week ago #

RSS feed for this topic

Reply

You must log in to post.


Video embedded using Easy Video Embed plugin