In February 2003, London introduced congestion charging in the central zone.
All vehicles entering this zone during office hours on week days have to
pay a £5 charge in advance [top left].
Extra demand for buses was anticipated, so several new routes were
established before C-Day. Two of these services complement existing routes [below
right]
and are operated by articulated vehicles.
Both routes cross London from one edge of the charging zone to the other,
and then continue onwards south of the river [below
left].
They are operated by Stagecoach Selkent [top
rigt] and London Central (Go-Ahead group) [above
left].
As with the bendi-buses on the Red Arrow routes, only pre-paid tickets
are accepted [above right] and all doors on the
vehicles can be used for entry and exit.
Recent reports suggest that congestion charging has been a greater
success than expected. |