Istanbul wants to impose London-style congestion tax

ISTANBUL, Nov 20 (AFP) - Istanbul's municipal authorities want to impose a congestion tax like the one operating in London to alleviate traffic in Turkey's biggest metropolis, the city's mayor Kadir Topbas was reported as saying in Saturday's papers.
He said the tax would be levied against motorists wanting to drive in the centre of the city, which has more than 12 million inhabitants.
The level of the tax has yet to be fixed, but compliance will be monitored by video cameras linked up with a computer which will read car number plates.
A final decision on the project will be announced next year, the mayor said.
Istanbul, the only city to straddle Europe and Asia, is the nerve centre of country's business and economic activities. Covering over 365 square kilometres (140 square miles) on both banks of the Bosphorus, traffic jams are a permanent feature.

11/20/2004 09:40 GMT - AFP