Well here’s a surprise. According to the Times newspaper, the London Borough of Richmond is intending to scrap its emission related parking scheme after it was found that charging drivers of 4x4s had no impact on their choice of transport.
The scheme has been on shaky ground ever since it was introduced early in 2009.
Dealing with Climate change is a policy matter for national government, rather than local town halls and – as has also been pointed out – such a charging mechanism penalises vehicles when they are stationary with the engine turned off, hence producing no carbon emissions. It is essentially a tax on car ownership, not use.
There is also another issue with the Richmond system. Parking restrictions and charges can only be set in an attempt to alleviate congestion. With the best will in the world, levying a fee based on grams of CO2 emitted per kilometre travelled is nothing to do with traffic snarl-ups.
