Plans for a temporary congestion charge in central Oxford were approved by Oxfordshire County Council’s cabinet last week. The scheme will begin operation on 10 November.
The scheme is designed to improve bus services and make it easier for those with permits such as community health and care workers, carers, Blue Badge holders, and mobile traders, to travel by car into and around Oxford.
A daily charge of £5 will allow cars without a permit to go through six charge locations on roads in Oxford.
It will be enforced using automatic number plate recognition cameras (ANPR) positioned at six locations. The owners of cars without a valid permit driving through the congestion charge locations and not paying the charge will receive a fine of £70 (reduced to £35 if paid within 21 days).
The scheme is intended to reduce congestion in Oxford while Botley Road is closed, which has delayed the start of a trial of camera-enforced traffic filters.
The Botley Road scheme, which is part of the £161m Oxford Station Enhancements Project, has been severely delayed by a range of problems including the unearthing of a Victorian brick archway on the site.
Oxfordshire County Council hopes the traffic filters – which will ban car traffic on six roads in the city at certain times – will reduce congestion, make bus journeys faster, allow for new and improved bus routes, make walking and cycling safer and reduce local air pollution.
The congestion charge will remain in place until the introduction of the traffic filters trial once Botley Road reopens, expected to be August 2026, said the council. The maximum time the congestion charge scheme will be in place as a temporary measure is two years, it added.
Any surplus income from the congestion charge could be used to fund travel improvements like cheaper bus tickets and parking at park and ride sites, the council said.
As with the planned traffic filters trial, residents in the wider Oxford permit area will be eligible for 100-day passes. Residents in the Oxfordshire permit area will be eligible for 25 day passes, allowing for free travel through the charge locations. Each day pass will allow permit holders to drive through all six charge locations as many times as you like on that day.
A six-week consultation took place on the proposals from 23 June to 3 August, which received more than 7,000 responses.
Andrew Gant, Oxfordshire County Council’s Cabinet Member for Transport Management, said: “Oxford needs a more sustainable, reliable and inclusive transport system for everyone. People have told us they want quicker journeys, more reliable bus services, and safer cycling and walking. In order to achieve that, we need to reduce the number of cars on our roads. That is what the temporary congestion charge is set to achieve.
“I’d like to thank everyone who responded to the recent consultation and previous consultations on the traffic filters scheme on which the temporary congestion charge is based. All of the comments have been considered by officers and helped inform the final proposals.”
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