💨Congestion Watch 👀: The Data is in! 🤓
The first month’s data on Oxford’s Temporary Congestion Charge is in. We’ve pulled out some early headlines and an OLS take on what they might mean – with cautious optimism and the caveat that it’s only been a month. Here’s our hot-take.
In plainspeak.
Insights from Liveable Neighbourhoods 2025 – and what it means for Oxfordshire
If you only know “liveable neighbourhoods” from Oxfordshire social media, you’d be forgiven for thinking it’s just another way of saying “war on motorists”.
For the last few years, Oxfordshire Liveable Streets has been right in the thick of highly polarised schemes: Low Traffic Neighbourhoods, Traffic Filters, and now the Congestion Charge. Locally, the very idea of a “liveable neighbourhood” has become tangled up with enforced traffic reduction and fears about lost freedom.
So we went to the Liveable Neighbourhoods Conference with a simple question:
What are other places actually doing when they say “liveable neighbourhoods” – and what can we learn about making change stick in a fairer, more human way?
Oxford's Temporary Congestion Charge Is GO! | An OLS Deep Dive
The Temporary Congestion Charge launches today — a bold step to get Oxford’s streets moving again. In this blog: what’s changed since consultation, what to expect next, and why we believe this measure is essential for building a fairer, cleaner, better-connected city. With some practical ways to support, healthy provocation, and a dose of perspective built in.
OLS Address to Cabinet and The Open Letter : “The congestion charge is about so much more than traffic”
The Oxfordshire Liveable Streets address to Cabinet on the proposed Temporary Congestion Charge, September 2025.
🚦Oxford’s Temporary Congestion Charge: Myth vs. Reality
Oxford is facing a crisis on our roads — congestion, unreliable public transport, and dangerous air quality are making everyday travel a struggle for thousands. The proposal for a temporary congestion charge is a targeted response to relieve pressure while longer-term solutions like the traffic filters are delayed.
But with any bold proposal comes confusion, fear, and misinformation. So let’s set the record straight.
Here are the most common myths we’ve heard — and the facts that counter them.
🟢 From Gridlock to Green Light: Sign the Open Letter to Cabinet
Today, we at Oxfordshire Liveable Streets stood outside County Hall with a group of founding signatories to officially launch an Open Letter backing Oxfordshire County Council’s proposed temporary congestion charge — and to invite organisations, community groups and businesses across Oxfordshire to join us.
In the face of vocal opposition and rising misinformation, it was a clear and confident message to Cabinet: Stay the course. Oxford is ready for this.
Signed by groups spanning health, business, active travel, climate and social justice, the letter urges Cabinet to move forward with a practical, necessary measure to ease gridlock, improve public transport, and create cleaner, fairer streets for everyone.
Oxfordshire Liveable Streets Supports Bold Decongestion Measures!
We welcome the County Council’s proposal for a temporary congestion charge. Right now, with Botley Road closed, some of Oxford’s roads are quite often gridlocked, noisy, overheated, and choked with fumes. It’s not good for anyone whether on wheels, on foot, or trying to run a business in town. We urgently need bold decongestion measures that make Oxford work better for everyone. Doing nothing is not an option.
