Editing London congestion charge (section)

=== Background ===
The [[Her Majesty's Government|government]]'s [[Smeed Report]] of 1964 was the first full assessment of the practicality of [[road pricing]] in a British city on the basis of congestion.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2006/aug/07/travelsenvironmentalimpact.transportintheuk |title=Q&A: National road charging scheme |first=Matthew |last=Tempest |work=The Guardian |date=7 August 2006 |access-date=26 May 2007 |location=London |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150418181853/http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2006/aug/07/travelsenvironmentalimpact.transportintheuk |archive-date=18 April 2015 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Smeed |first=R.J. |year=1964 |title=Road pricing: the economic and technical possibilities |publisher=HMSO}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|title=Experts' plan to cut traffic pressure |work=The Times |date=11 June 1964}}</ref> It recommended a method of "car user restraint" by a variable system of charging for road usage{{Snd}}if the government had the will to do so. During the early years of the [[Greater London Council]], which was formed in 1965, the first plans were drawn up for a system of cordon charging or supplementary licensing for use in the central area. A formal study was undertaken into the merits of the scheme, and in 1973 concluded that it would improve traffic and environmental conditions in the centre.<ref name=bannister>{{Cite book |title=Transport Planning:In the UK, USA and Europe |last=Bannister |first=David |year=2002 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-13450-663-7}}</ref> These plans were being developed at the same time as the [[London Ringways]], a series of four orbital motorways around and within London including [[London Ringways#Ringway 1|Ringway 1]] (the London Motorway Box) leading to widespread public protest by [[Homes before Roads]] and others. Only a small section of these road schemes had been implemented{{cn|date=September 2024}} by the time Labour gained control in the [[1973 Greater London Council election]]s, and the new administration abandoned the road building plans in favour of public transport and [[traffic management]].<ref>{{cite book|title=London: A Social History|year=1994|isbn=978-0-241-12944-9|page=448pp|author=R Porter, Hamish Hamilton}}</ref> The new administration, to which [[Ken Livingstone]] had just been elected for the first time,<ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/520973.stm |title=CV: Ken 'Red Ken' Livingstone |publisher=BBC |date=17 November 1999 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150418181550/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/520973.stm |archive-date=18 April 2015 |url-status=live}}</ref> studied a congestion scheme similar to the one which was eventually adopted the following year.<ref>{{cite book|title=Urban Road Pricing: Public and Political Acceptability|isbn=978-0-7546-3449-2|publisher=Ashgate Publishing|year=2003|page=248}}</ref>