When Ken Livingstone launched the congestion charge five years ago,
Londoners were told it would raise £200 million a year in extra funds for
the public transport network.

...

Ken's flagship policy was introduced on 17 February 2003 on a promise
that revenue from it would be poured into public transport. In the past
five years, the charge has raised, in fees and fines, more than £1
billion. But the surplus, according to two interpretations of TfL's own
figures, is less than £15 million - and could be as low as £10 million.

...

An economist with a leading City bank analysed TfL's returns for the
Standard. Speaking on condition of anonymity he said: "At the point when
I looked at the figures, the total revenue was £930 million. When you
deduct the capital and running costs, you are left, after five years,
with £14 million. On 116 million transactions, that works out at 12p on
each transaction (costing the motorist £5-£8).

"If Ken had asked people to throw 20p into a bucket every time they drove
in central London, he would have made more money - and that includes the
cost of collecting the buckets.

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