Edinburgh Congestion Charge Defeated
The people of Edinburgh have voted a massive no to a proposed congestion charge [news.bbc.co.uk] that would have imposed a two pounds a day charge on motorists entering the inner city centre or the ring road area during the rush hour.
People voted in good numbers to reject the proposal with more than 74% saying no thanks.
It would be a bit silly in my opinion. Congestion charges such as this are not really any kind of “solution” at all, they simply become another tax on the road users. There has to be a suitable alternative before you can say that cars shouldn’t be there. The inner cordon looked somewhat less ridiculous than the outer one, but, overall, still not that great.
One of the main objections was that people outside the cordon were being unfairly treated as they had no alternative in place.
The no vote essentially kills this for Edinburgh, and other cities were said to be watching the progress carefully.
