An Unanticipated Consequence?

Well, only if nobody had thought about it very much. Color me unsurprised:

Transport for London has published its sixth annual report into the impact of the congestion charge on the city's traffic, with the surprise finding that fewer cars are entering the zone but congestion is as bad as it was before the charge was introduced.

What's this, you ask? Well, the City of London thought that they could Save The Planet (tm) by imposing a "Congestion Charge" (a commuter tax to bring your car into town). Higher cost, fewer cars (Save The Planet!), clear streets!

Well, two out of three ain't so bad.

The Register dryly notes that the congestion charge (commute tax) raised £137m (a bazillion gazillion dollars) last year.

So, the Brit.Gov can't even seem to cut down on traffic even when they get the cars off the road. Good thing that they banned guns and nationalized healthcare.

Oh, wait.

Still, they raised a lot of dough. Could it be that they did think this through? Mission Accomplished!