Despite numerous predictions that London's transport infrastructure would collapse under the strain of the system, day one of the congestion charging scheme shocked commuters, motoring groups and the press alike by making the capital a calmer place.
Traffic levels in the capital on 17 February were said to be over 25 percent lower than on a regular road packed Monday. Though detractors were quick to remind the watchful eyes of the world that the scheme had been introduced on the first day of a school holiday break, a time that traditionally sees a rush hour reduction of some 10-15 percent, even the RAC reportedly admitted that rush-hour Elephant & Castle had been "deserted, like 5am on a Sunday morning." Although news was broadcast on Sunday evening of poor levels of registration for the next days charge, critics of the scheme had little to crow about as levels of traffic throughout Monday painted an eerily calm picture of the city's roads.
Reports continued throughout the first day to describe a vastly improved road network, yet protestors at Smithfield Market were out in force to speak out against the charge. They were joined by Conservative leader Iain Duncan Smith as well as Steven Norris, who announced just days before that if he is successful in his bid to become the next London Mayor he will abolish the congestion charge.
In a press conference, Ken Livingstone announced that 190,000 vehicles had entered the zone during the first day of operation - a reduction of 25 percent. Of this figure between 15-20,000 were fleet vehicles that had pre-registered; a further 45,000 were made up of buses (including 300 new services), taxis, emergency vehicles and various other exempt categories. Preliminary figures indicated that around 10,000 drivers had neglected to pay the charge.
Speaking out against those who had refused to pay Livingstone explained that this figure could fall following manual checking of the photographic evidence but added: "We're not going to allow a few free-loaders to ride on the back of hundreds of thousands of law-abiding Londoners."
