such as Sao Paolo in Brazil and Lagos in Nigeria.But even cities in developed countries④ such as the US suffer⑤.Los Angeles，which was built with the motor car in mind，and is famous for its six－lane highways，is now the USA's most congested⑥ city.

In Europe most capital cities were planned and built before cars，and city centre traffic jams have been part of⑦ daily life for a long time.The situation in central London，where drivers spent fifty percent of their time in queues⑧，became so bad that⑨ the local government decided to do something about it.In February 2003 the Mayor of London，Ken Livingstone，introduced a"congestion⑩ charge"-a tax for cars entering the centre of the city.

The idea is simple：every car coming into the centre has to pay ￡5 a day.Drivers can pay the charge at any of 10，000 pay points⑪ in the capital before 10 pm.As the cars come into the centre，video cameras record their registration⑫ numbers，and these are checked with a list of drivers who have paid the charge for that day.People who do not pay the charge will face⑬ a fine⑭ of ￡80.

Most Londoners are not happy with the idea.They agree⑮ that London has a traffic problem，but the congestion charge is expensive，and limits their freedom...

But does the congestion charge work⑯？A survey carried out⑰ at the end of 2003 suggests⑱ it does.After only six months，traffic coming into central London was reduced by⑲ about 30 percent，and journey times by 15 percent.More people used public transport to⑳ get to work，and bicycles were suddenly very popular.What's more\s\up7(21(21)，central London shops did not lose business even though there were fewer cars.

But there are a few people who think the charge should be much higher，for example rich businessmen who work in the city centre and can easily afford\s\up7(22(22) it.This would keep even more cars out of central London，and the roads would be nearly empty.However，there are no plans to increase\s\up7(23(23) the charge.

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