• The "congestion charging scheme" was first introduced on February 17, 2003, after 75 years of policy work on "road use pricing." Once it was implemented, it took less then 2 weeks for the program to settle down; the fear factor therefore evaporated due to the rapid stabilization.

• An important component in passing the legislation was the fact that for the first time, in May 2000, London elected a Mayor, Ken Livingstone. It turned out to be very important for them to have this person that could make decisions; Mayor Livingstone wanted to be re-elected, so he had set his heart on sorting out London's traffic problem and wanted to develop the project quickly. Therefore, also in May 2000, Mr. Turner started formulating a project team, which was then incorporated into his department. Turner told the audience that the team was comprised of both private industry consultants and government employees, because political issues cannot be fully understood by outsiders, but these same consultants also have valuable expertise to help the project succeed.

• Their budget was not large, 230 million pounds, but it covered IT systems, communication/public information, and enforcement. He wanted to then enable other cities to do the same thing.

• The project focuses on the inner ring road area of central London, not the surrounding metro areas. Of the million people that arrive in London every work day, only 10% do so by car. Changing the behavior of only 20,000 people made their task more feasible.

• The main objective is to reduce traffic 10-15%, comparable to the amounts seen on school holidays, where the traffic is bearable and workable. A very small change in traffic volume creates greater efficiency benefits in travel time, 15-25%. Less congestion also helps municipal bus service, because they can keep to their route schedules and riders can depend on the travel time. So far the system has earned 130M pound in revenue, which is then reinvested into the infrastructure.

• Within the first eight weeks, the average reduction in traffic within central London was 17%. This was followed by a 5% increase on the inner ring road, but this roadway had been reengineered to handle this increase in capacity by modifying traffic light patterns.

• Buses were also able to run on time; some even got to their destinations early.

• Today, 100,000 people pay every day, the enforcement is working, and the public understands it is tough; the Secretary of State of Transportation is eating his words. 40,000 of the drivers are prepaid and 23,000 use the fleet system for regular customers. There are many ways that people can register and pay: the most popular being cell phones (27%), where by drivers can use the text messaging system. Sixteen percent use the Internet and 37% use retail outlets, which also encourages patronage of small shops, often run by ethnic minorities

• The program decided to use proven and effective technology, instead of cutting edge, to increase reliability. The charge to drive the vehicle into central London is 5 pounds per day, or 10 after 10pm. The fine for not registering a vehicle is 80 pounds per day.

• The enforcement is handled through 700 cameras, placed throughout the central city. They can record close-up pictures that show license plate numbers, et al. To protect civil liberties, these cameras can also take images from the back, and if a driver does not commit an offense, their images are destroyed by the end of the day. On an average, a person passes 2-3 cameras per journey and this system catches up to 90% of the offenses, or 15,000 PCNs per week.

• The congestion charge is seen as an integrated approach and a charge, not a tax. In exchange for the customers' fee, the City funds traffic-management and highway facilities as a return service to the clients. Large public education programs have also helped in acceptance and compliance.

• London no longer has problems with gridlock and some think it is the best new idea since the Underground; it has even proven itself to be better then the academics predicted.

• Mr. Turner mentioned that it took him 30 minutes to do 2 miles in NYC! And, that a similar 10% reduction in traffic could create 25% better driving times. In London, it has reduced traffic entering London by 20%. Today, people can travel 2 miles in about 10-15 minutes. One-third of the trips have been diverted to trains or buses, 1/3 are going on inner ring road, 1/3 have changed routing completely. Dissatisfaction with public transit is also reducing as a result; even though the bus system is handling 14% more people, some say it is working well: they are remarkably pleased because the bus journey has become more reliable (and it is cheaper). More people are coming to the buses then just those displaced by pricing.

• Turner highlighted what they have we learned: "Enthusiasm" and a "can-do attitude" can deliver an "impossible" project (on time). They created a successful public-private partnership, harnessing the strengths of both: the private sector expertise of Deloitte and clear procurement strategy; there were no weak links. They also learned that it was important to present the scheme to the public and the politicians as part of overall scheme; the public information campaign proved very valuable.