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This century, mankind may well travel to Mars, but he will find it harder and harder to get across town. Since 1980, the number of vehicles in the world has doubled; in the next two decades, it is set to double again. The costs are mounting. A 1999 study by the Texas Transportation Institute estimated that the annual cost of congestion in 68 urban areas, in wasted fuel and increased operating costs was $72 billion. Anthony Downs, author of "Stuck in Traffic" and a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, argues that peak-hour congestion in towns is inescapable. Ken Livingstone, London's mayor, is introducing a congestion charge for those driving in eight square miles of central London. Several European countries, including Germany and Britain, are planning to introduce satellite charging for trucks within the next four years. Proposals from the European Commission for such a scheme, which include tolls for each 10km within a city, have met with much opposition and are being sat on; but if the plan sees the light of day, and works, a similar scheme for cars could be introduced within a decade.

It seems odd, as Iain Duncan Smith, the Tory party leader, pointed out this week, that Prime Minister Tony Blair of Great Britain, a man with a view on everything, is the only man in London with no opinion on the congestion charge. If the charge cuts traffic delays in London--and thereby allows the government to get some way towards its over-ambitious target of reducing congestion by 6% by the end of the decade--ministers will be quick to take the credit for introducing the legislation which allowed it to be brought in. Some in the Labor Party long for it to fail. The plan's sponsor, Mayor Ken Livingstone, always on the far left of the party, was thrown out of it because he insisted, against the prime minister's wishes, on standing as mayor of London. The minister for transport, John Spellar, has never hidden his dislike of congestion charging. But until now, it has not been known that he has actively sought to undermine the scheme. Blair eventually got so fed up with these antics, which were directly contrary to government policy, that he told the then transport secretary, Stephen Byers, to put a stop to them.