Other road and rail projects will be hit after the capital’s transport chiefs were forced to bail out the firm running Ken Livingstone’s controversial congestion charge scheme.
Transport for London coughed up another £31 million of taxpayers money when Capita, the company administering the road charging project, ran into financial trouble when it raised less money than expected from the new levy.
An independent audit carried out for TfL discovered that Capita was failing to make a profit because 38 per cent fewer than expected paying motorists were entering the central London charging zone.
Steve Norris, Conservative candidate for Mayor in next year’s election, said: “One of the reasons I opposed the congestion charge originally is that there was always a paradox at the heart of the scheme: the more successful it was in deterring drivers, the less money would be available for public transport.”
He said the decision to bail out Capita “shows that the financing of the congestion charge is unravelling before our eyes. Cancelling vital projects like the Docklands Light Railway will be a disaster for passengers. And there is something grotesque about Ken Livingstone having to pay out £31 million to an arch PPP contractor like Capita.”
Angie Bray, the Conservative congestion charge spokesman on the London Assembly protested: “Capita appear to get all the rewards whilst Londoners have to pick up the costs. Who on earth drew up these contracts?”
She told conservatives.com: “This illustrates the inherent contradiction at the heart of the scheme: the desire to raise revenue against a desire to cut congestion. The fewer cars that enter central London means less money raised for public transport improvements. TfL have even made it clear that there will be cut backs this year.”
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