London Congestion Charge – 5 years, £1.2 billion and …

This morning ConservativeHome took this piece from me on the Congestion Charge.

Read how the Mayor has taken £1.2 billion off Londoners in 5 years and, well, just spent it all on out of control set-up and running costs. All gone. Yep, all of it. None left, not a bean. When Peter Hendy and the Mayor say that it is contributing £120 million towards the buses or cycling or walking they are telling three fibs that add up to one big lie. The three fibs are:

1. they ignore capital costs
2. they ignore indirect costs (ie they assume the charge is run out of a garage)
3. they ignore the first year’s losses.

If these guys were businessmen they would have been sacked about four years ago on this performance.