Congestion Management for China’s Transit Metropolis Cities by Professors P. Jones, D. Turner and B. Heydecker of UCL. January 2015 Workshop Beijing

Derek Turner CBE FREng FICE Visiting Professor UCL. Deputy Chief Executive UK Highways Agency. Principal of DTC and Partner of CBP. Managing Director Transport for London. Traffic Director for London. London Borough Engineer and Surveyor.

Derek Turner’s previous key projects and responsibilities Devised, introduced and operated London’s Congestion Charging Scheme. Lead consultant for Stockholm Congestion Tax. London’s Bus Priority Network. All London’s Traffic Signals and main roads. England’s motorways and main roads. Installed & operated 7 traffic control centres.

Summary of Report Urban Transport Policy Development Cycle. Transport policy measures and objectives. Managing Traffic demand. Pricing as a strategy. Today’s Workshop: – Central London’s Congestion Charging Zone. – The Case for Charging. – Implementation and Operation. – Influencing factors. – Detailed design considerations.

Urban Transport Policy Development

Transport policy measures & objectives

Congestion Management Policies Possible policy responses to a congested transport system:  Increase Supply.  Manage/Change Demand.  Reduce Demand.  Mixture of above - adopted in London.  Do Nothing.

Congestion Management Strategies Increase traffic capacity – by building more or managing roads better. Encourage use of other modes of transport. Re-routeing and re-timing trips. Reduce trip lengths. Restrain traffic:  Physical – along routes and/or at trip ends  Regulatory  Information/marketing  Pricing

Pricing as a strategy Point charging Cordon charging. Area charging. Distance charging. Congestion Charging.

Today’s Workshop Congestion Management in London. Central London’s Congestion Charging Zone. The Case for Charging. Implementation and Operation. Influencing factors. Detailed design considerations.

Greater London Population = 9,000,000. Area = 1,583 sq.kms. Regional/local government = An elected Mayor + 33 local councils. Central London area = 22 sq.kms. Economy = World’s 5 th largest city GDP.

Congestion Management in London Encourage Bus, Rail and Tube use. Encourage walking and cycling. No new road construction. Efficiently operate main roads - Red Routes. Integrated Traffic Control Centre. Control all parking residential & non-residential. Central London Congestion Charging. Land Use Planning.

Central London Congestion Charging Zone Area (22sq.kms) based scheme operational in 2003 after two years implementation at cost of £162m. 170,000 vehicles processed per day, 67,000 currently paying the charge. Charge was initially £5, now £11.50, £90m annually to operate, net revenue £132m. 16% reduction of motor traffic entering zone.

Initial Technical Details Pre-payment number plate scheme. Discretionary period for post payment. Central processing. Non payment enforced by cameras with optical character recognition. Easy to pay all payment channels used. Minimal exemptions and discounts, no season tickets.

Complementary Measures The income hypothecated to transport. Bus services to/around Central London enhanced. Residential areas adjacent to the zone ‘protected’. Extensive and maintained publicity/marketing campaign. Inner Ring Road traffic signals re-pahased.

Conclusion A balanced integrated approach. Technology is not the constraining factor. Pricing can work as a strategy. For China’s Metropolis Cities: – What are the transportation policies and aims? – What are the demographic and economic trends? – What are the transportation institutional arrangements?