The Open Guide to London: the free London guide - Differences between Version 6 and Version 5 of Category Driving

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@INDEX_LINK [[Category Driving]]	<b>Click on the title link</b> to see all pages about driving.
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Click on the title link to see all pages about driving.

Running a car in London is expensive; there are several reasons why:

Congestion charge - �5.00 for cars crossing Central London, from February 2003
Parking - the boroughs look to parking fines as a way of getting revenue. Car park owners charge a premium for off-road, legal parking. Many Central London streets with parking meters have the charges operational on Saturday and Sunday - check the small print when you park.
Insurance - Premiums are high for Central London, as it is viewed as high risk fo theft.

However, if you do need or decide to have a car, when thinking about parking, there are several points that are worth bearing in mind.

Residents Parking Permit - you may need to get one of these from your local council, if you live in a controlled parking zone (CPZ), and do not have off-street parking. This is yet another revenue earner for the boroughs, particularly since they sell as many as they can with no regard to the number of spaces available.
Disabled sticker - if you are registered disabled, you are entitled to a sticker which exempts you from many of the parking problems.
Free parking to retail customers - If you are intending to buy groceries from Sainsbury's, Safeways, Asda or Waitrose, these stores ususally have a large car park. This can be useful for walks and other shopping. You may need to show a receipt on exit.
Park and ride - although this is popular in many large towns and cities outside London, it has not really caught on in London, as land for the car park is at a premium. Boroughs usually make the streets near a tube station into a CPZ.