Capital right to take another look at imposing congestion charge on motorists

Edinburgh Council is taking a “fresh look” into congestion charging (your report, 30 December). Why? Much has happened in the 18 years since a congestion charge was originally mooted.

First, the strongly growing economy of the Edinburgh and South East Scotland region has helped provide tens of thousands of new homes. Equally, job growth in Edinburgh has soared above the national average, and is expected to continue to advance. Both have substantially driven up local car use, so much so that satnav manufacturer Tomtom has had to revise its league table of extra travel time caused by congestion. Tomtom’s latest assessment ranks Edinburgh as the worst UK city for traffic jams. Edinburgh, with a 40 per cent increase in travel time during rush hours, is above London (37 per cent) and then Bournemouth (34 per cent).

Secondly urban air quality has worsened. Edinburgh now suffers from large, persistent spatial and temporal variations, especially of nitrogen dioxide – a highly reactive gas closely linked with adverse health outcomes. Its pollution levels persistently break legal air quality standards. Lower concentrations at weekends, as well as two daily peaks tied to each rush-hour, unambiguously demonstrate a close link to traffic and fuel-burning.

Thirdly, despite Kyoto, Copenhagen, Paris and numerous other Un-led climate conferences, global carbon dioxide levels rise at ever faster rates. International initiatives to curb global warming have not been a success. The focus needs to be much more on action by individuals, or at local or city levels.

In Scotland, transport is the largest source of greenhouse gas emissions (37 per cent), followed by agriculture (24 per cent) and business and industrial processes (21 per cent). If we value our time, our health or our planet then we should strongly support the council in its determination to take another look at congestion charging.

ROY THOMPSON, FRSE, Professor Emeritus Geosciences

Edinburgh University