What are they thinking? Wait until their economy tanks because of this.

A means to controlling ones behavior. Yeah, that’s why cigarette taxes are so high.

I’m going back to reading Yertle the Turtle.

We are only talking about congestion AT THE AIRPORT. My point is that the governments in Europe, by penalizing General Aviation to death and managing airport rationing, have created the congestion at Heathrow and their other mega airports. Even with their train system, they have a larger demand for air travel than they can handle given their management. We are going down the same path in the US, only WE DON’T HAVE THE TRAIN SYSTEM!

Next time your city tries to rip up an airport, do something about it. While you are at it, if you get the ear of a legislator, tell him to stop the slaughter against GA. It’s your life you are wasting at the airport, and it will be your money when the price goes up.

Europe has a substantial rail system. I think population density and cities built several hundred years or so before the car have more to do with traffic congestion than a lack of airports.

What they are doing is only possible because they first destroyed private aviation in the UK and Europe. If there were more airports, there would be less congestion. Also, they would not be able to charge these fees.

The government allowed this all to happen by creating a shortage of capacity and by picking the transportation winners (airlines) on behalf of the public.

You can still get to most destinations under 1000 miles cheaper and faster by private aircraft in the US, but this will soon end. It’s a shame because the technology is developing towards a revolution that will no longer be possible if we don’t fight the dirty alliance between the airlines, the FAA, and the city governments to destroy general aviation.

It is possible to do the pedestrian thing, without unduly penalizing the car. The idea is to realize that people like pedestrian areas, but the use of them has to be just as convenient as if it were accessible by car.

Have places to park cars around the area with little congestion. Have it truly mass transit friendly, not just car penalized.

Trying the opposite almost always fails. If the choice is to put up with hassles and fees to get somewhere pedestrian friendly rather than to simply drive to somewhere else that is car friendly, people will choose the latter.

Living in Providence, I can tell you that the downtown area is thriving.

Living in Providence, I can tell you that downtown is a dump, centered around an enormous outdoor bus station, and a ghost town at night.

And yes, pedestrianization– at the time when the suburban malls were just rearing their ugly heads– KILLED the city center.

The car is the lifeblood of any modern city. Anyone who thinks otherwise (hello Ken Livingstone) is seriously, dangerously deluded.

Please retain the possibility that maybe BAA’s spanish owners might be trying to push this one through…..

Also to the commentator who mentioned tax on cigarettes, we’ve got you beat there! A pack of 20 would cost about $11!

Living in Providence, I can tell you that the downtown area is thriving. If you’re speaking of the downtown of twenty years ago, I believe that had more to do with the decline of manufacturing in New England and the flight to the suburbs.

That said, they sure tax the hell out of those Brits, but we tax the hell out of cigarettes in the USA as a means to change people’s behavior, so it’s not like we’re immune to taxing-as-behavior-modification here.

According to UK-Airport-News.info, some 60k vehicles travel through the central terminal per day.

As BAA claims they'd raise £127m per year, that works out to 6.35m vehicles per year at £20 a piece, or 17,397 per day. So… roughly a third of LHR's vehicular traffic would have to pay.

That said, I'm not sure if they're basing their projected revenues on current or projected traffic levels (i.e. once the new terminal is built).

There has to be a breaking point for the taxes in the UK, it happened with all the colonies.

Seriously, unless you’re incredibly wealthy or incredibly poor, why would anyone live in London (unless that’s the plan from the get go)?

I’m not sure that anyone sane takes a private car anywhere near Heathrow, so that isn’t a big deal. But if it applies to taxis as well…