The idea of
road pricing in the United Kingdom dates back to 1964, when the
Smeed Report proposed that road users should pay the costs roads impose on society. After the
London Congestion Charge Zone (CCZ) was introduced in 2003, around 30 other local authorities were expected to follow suit, although most, including Birmingham, failed to bring forward firm proposals at that time. In an interview with
The Guardian that year, transport writer and commentator
Christian Wolmar suggested this was because councils feared a backlash from motorists and lobbying groups. In 2018, the Council published a business case for its plan, then costed at £68.7 million. Opponents launched a protest group, Campaign Against Birmingham Clean Air Zone Charges, in 2018, arguing the scheme would "turn the city into a ghost town". The British government approved the plan in 2019, An opinion survey of 8000 Birmingham residents published by the Council in June 2020 found "Nearly 80% were in favour of measures to reduce car emissions, with 63% not wanting to return to the levels of pollution we had prior to the pandemic.... [and] 71% of... respondents backing the introduction of Zero Emission Zones to discourage high-polluting cars from entering cities". Although some businesses and local councillors called for a further postponement of the scheme during the pandemic, Birmingham City Council leader Ian Ward refused, noting: "The government has made it crystal clear it will not tolerate any further delay". When the plan was put forward again, businesses still recovering from lockdowns expressed concern about its potential economic impact. According to a report in
The Guardian, shortly before the scheme was implemented in 2021, opponents published Facebook advertising urging people to oppose what they described as a "war on motorists" and a "travel tax", while the
Birmingham Mail noted how a local MP had branded it a "tax on the poor". The scheme was finally launched on 1 June 2021. == Impact ==