CITY CENTRE TRAFFIC MANAGEMENT: DURHAM
43. The road user charging scheme implemented by
Durham County Council in October 2002 is on a very much smaller
scale. It was designed with a limited aim, namely to "significantly
reduce the pedestrian and vehicular conflict" in the Peninsula
area, and Saddler Street in particular, "by the removal of
a substantial proportion of the existing traffic."[63]
The Council had previously considered introducing a permit scheme
to reduce the number of non-essential car journeys into the Peninsula
area (for example, to visit banks or shops or to try to park as
close as possible to the Cathedral), but could not find a means
of differentiating between essential and non-essential traffic.
The powers made available under the 2000 Act made such differentiation
feasible by means of road user charging.[64]
The scheme requires vehicles using the Market Place and Saddler
Street (the only vehicular access to the Peninsula) to pay £2
on exit. It operates between 10 am and 4 pm, Monday to Saturday:
access outside these times is free of charge. Residents on the
streets affected, and those with existing parking facilities within
the controlled zone, are exempt from the charge, but the Council
says it has kept other exemptions to a minimum.[65]
Bus services into the Market Place area have been developed and
enhanced.
44. The formal consultation exercise on the proposed
scheme commenced in November 2000.[66]
Mr Roger Elphick, Head of Highway Management Services for the
County Council, stressed the amount of consultation that had taken
place beforehand: "I would say that we have been drip-feeding
the idea for three or four years now."[67]
45. The scheme is to be measured against six criteria,
including the reduction of traffic impact on the local environment,
reduction of accidents and the perception of accident risk, and
the improvement of the economic viability of the Market Place
and the Peninsula area. It is expected to raise £120,000
per annum, to subsidise a new bus service into the central area,
to support Durham's Shopmobility scheme and to cover administrative
costs. However, no targets have been set for revenue generation:
the Council was clear that "it will be a measure of success
that motorists elect not to meet the charge and that less income
is generated". In the event of a shortfall, the Council envisages
assigning revenue from on-street parking charges to the support
of the services to be funded out of charging revenue.[68]
46. Early indications are that the scheme has been
extremely successful, and that traffic volumes in the central
Durham area have been reduced by up to 90 per cent, rather than
the 50 per cent initially projected.[69]
It is of course too early to come to a judgment about the overall
impact of the scheme, although the results in terms of demand
management appear encouraging. This illustrates the point we have
made above. The nature of charging schemes will vary according
to cirumstances. A successful charging scheme may not necessarily
result in net revenue gain.
46 
