Note to Seattle....Britain's reversal on congestion pricing and pollution fees

A centerpiece in Boris Johnson's campaign to unseat the incumbent mayor of London, Ken Livingstone, was the mayor's proposal to expand the city's congestion pricing scheme.

Livingstone implemented a £25 charge on high polluting vehicles, entering the city. The CO2 fee is on top of the £8 congestion pricing fee. Using an exchange rate calculator shows the charge for someone driving an SUV into London is about $65. For someone who worked downtown everyday, the charge amounts to about $17,000 per year!

Boris Johnson ran on the platform of reforming the congestion and CO2 charges. This from the BBC:

Once installed at City Hall, Mr Johnson will be able to start his plans to reform the congestion charge, another high profile part of his election campaign.

Last month, the state of New York took a page from Johnson's strategy, killing Mayor Bloomberg's congestion pricing proposal, which was modeled from London's scheme.

Locally, the Seattle Times recently ran a story highlighting a new study that claimed widespread congestion pricing could reduce congestion. And other notable policymakers are on record supporting such a scheme here. 

But with 42% of the vote, Johnson defeated the incumbent (36%) Livingstone. This stunning reversal demonstrates that congestion pricing and CO2 fees are not popular with voters, who only have so much tolerance for higher tax burdens.